Preventing Suicides with Sensible Gun Laws

In 2013, suicides were the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. Of the over 40,000 suicides, about half were carried out by firearms.

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A study published in the American Journal of Public Health this year found that firearm access is associated with the risk for completed suicide. Child access prevention laws and practices can protect adolescents from suicides as well as unintentional injuries, but working with older adults on gun safety is especially important because they have higher suicide rates and are more likely to use firearms to commit suicide.

The study examined the correlation between state laws and suicide rates by gathering data from three state laws tracked by the National Rifle Association that regulate handgun ownership: requirements for permits, firearm registration, and owner licensing. They compared these state laws with three suicide-related outcomes by state: rates of suicide, statewide rates of suicide by firearms, and proportion of suicide deaths by firearms.

Unsurprisingly, the researchers found that states with laws in place requiring permits, licensing, and registration for firearms had decreased total suicide rates, reduced rates of suicide by firearms, and a smaller proportion of suicide deaths due to guns.

Though the public focuses on mental health and gun access after like the recent attack in Charleston, South Carolina and legislators on both sides of the gun safety issue develop laws they think will help the problem, we should not single out the mass shooters as a distraction from the real debate about gun safety and gun violence prevention. Many state laws have been passed since Sandy Hook, some strengthening gun regulations while others diminishing them. The majority of Americans support common sense legislation to ensure that dangerous weapons do not end up in the hands of people who are a danger to themselves or others.

What Americans need is for private and government groups to work together to develop recommendations to prevent suicide, including measures involving gun safety and improved state and federal firearm laws. We need to keep guns out of the hands of those who seek to hurt themselves as much as we need to keep them from those who want to hurt others.

commentary by May Nguyen, MD, MPH

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: We examined the impact of 3 state laws (permit to purchase a handgun, registration of handguns, license to own a handgun) on suicide rates.

METHODS: We used 2010 data from publicly available databases and state legislatures to assess the relationships between our predictors and outcomes.

RESULTS: Results largely indicated that states with any of these laws in place exhibited lower overall suicide rates and suicide by firearms rates and that a smaller proportion of suicides in such states resulted from firearms. Furthermore, results indicated that laws requiring registration and license had significant indirect effects through the proportion of suicides resulting from firearms. The latter results imply that such laws are associated with fewer suicide attempts overall, a tendency for those who attempt to use less-lethal means, or both. Exploratory longitudinal analyses indicated a decrease in overall suicide rates immediately following implementation of laws requiring a license to own a handgun.

CONCLUSIONS: The results are thus supportive of the potential of handgun legislation to have an impact on suicide rates.  PMID: 25880944 Anestis MD. Am J Public Health. 2015; e1-e9.