In the United States, suicides outnumber homicides almost two to one. Perhaps the real tragedy behind suicide deaths—about 30,000 a year, one for every 45 attempts—is that so many could be prevented. Research shows that whether attempters live or die could depend in large part on the ready availability of highly lethal means, especially firearms.
Researchers have examined suicide rates in Connecticut and Missouri, two states that changed their permit-to-purchase handgun laws in recent decades. Connecticut passed a recent law that requires people to apply for a permit with local law enforcement and take eight hours of gun safety training before they can buy a firearm. Missouri also repealed a 1921 law that required people to apply with the local police to buy a gun.
The rate of gun-related suicide in Connecticut in the 10 years after its law passed was 15% lower than what researchers predict it would have been had the law not been passed. The researchers made this prediction based on the suicide rate in Rhode Island and North Dakota, which have similar demographics as Connecticut, and which also had similar suicide rates as Connecticut …show more content…
Some research has shown that although states, regions, and countries with higher rates of household gun ownership have higher rates of gun suicide, there is also an association between gun ownership and overall risk of suicide. However, this association is more modest than the association between gun ownership and gun suicide; it is less consistently observed across time, place, and persons; and the causal relation remains unclear. The risk of suicide is highest immediately after the purchase of a handgun, suggesting that some firearms are specifically purchased for the purpose of committing suicide. Some gun control policies may reduce the number of gun suicides, but they have not yet been shown to reduce the overall risk of suicide in any