ABSTRACT
Introduction
Firearm violence is a major public health concern in the United States (US). Alcohol use and features of the alcohol environment, including outlet type and alcohol control policies, are factors known to increase the risk of firearm violence. On-premise alcohol outlets, where alcohol is sold and consumed on site, may influence firearm violence risk through modifications in the physical environment, social processes and policy contexts.
Methods
We conducted a cross-sectional study examining the association between multilevel characteristics of on-premise alcohol outlets and other social ecological conditions and shooting incidents across 69 US cities from 2022–2023. Shooting incidents were spatially linked to outlets within a 10-m buffer. A multivariable generalised linear mixed model with a logit link assessed associations between outlet, neighbourhood, and state factors and the odds of a shooting incident.
Results
The 19,472 on-premise outlets experienced 290 shooting incidents during the study period. Compared with bars, restaurants (OR = 0.58; 95% CI 0.42, 0.80) and other outlets (OR = 0.58; 95% CI 0.34, 1.00) had lower odds of experiencing a shooting. Greater neighbourhood socioeconomic advantage (per 1 SD increase: OR = 0.64; 95% CI 0.56, 0.74) and stronger state-level firearm laws (per 1 SD increase: 0.72; 95% CI 0.53, 0.97) were also found to be negatively associated with shooting incidents.
Discussion and Conclusions
Findings align with prior research linking stronger firearm laws, neighbourhood advantage and outlet type to reduced firearm violence risk. Multilevel prevention strategies addressing both structural and outlet-specific factors may help reduce firearm violence in on-premise alcohol outlets.