Firearms and suicide in US cities

Abstract

On an average day in the USA more than 100 Americans die by suicide-half use firearms. Suicide rates overall and by firearms are higher, on average, in states where household firearm ownership is more common. In general this means in states where a greater proportion of the population lives in rural areas. The current ecological study focuses on the relation between measures of household firearm prevalence and suicide mortality in urban areas (metropolitan statistical areas and divisions) using survey-based measures of firearm ownership. Suicide rates (1999-2010) for metropolitan statistical areas that are comprised of large US cities come from death certificate records; rates of household firearm ownership come from the 2002 and 2004 Behavioural Risk Factor Surveillance System. Higher rates of firearm ownership are strongly associated with higher rates of overall suicide and firearm suicide, but not with non-firearm suicide. Stratification by gender, age and race did not materially affect the association between firearms and suicide. This study provides evidence consistent with previous case-control work and extends evidence from previous state- and region-level ecological studies that firearms in the home impose suicide risk above and beyond baseline.

The Pattern of Suicide in the Western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

“…The total population of KSA is 27 million with nearly 7.5 foreigners. 17 This idea is supported by studies done in Germany 18 and India 19 where hanging was the leading mode of suicide, and firearms is not that common like in the United States. It is clear that Indian fatalities are more dominant in this study as regarding to the percentage inside the total population.…”

Firearm Ownership and Capability for Suicide in Post‐Deployment National Guard Service Members

“…Prior work has begun establishing a link between firearm ownership and increased suicide risk. Data suggest that firearm ownership is related to overall and firearm‐specific death by suicide (Anestis & Houtsma, ; Miller, Warren, Hemenway, & Azrael, ) but unrelated to thoughts of suicide (Khazem et al., ). Additionally, those who own a firearm and experience suicidal ideation are more likely to develop a plan for suicide that involves a firearm than are those who experience suicidal ideation but do not own a firearm (Betz, Barber, & Miller, ).…”

The Association Between Gun Ownership and Statewide Overall Suicide Rates

“…Indeed, a recent meta-analysis demonstrated that our ability to predict suicide prospectively has not improved in the past half-century (Franklin et al, in press). Prominent theories (Joiner, 2005;Klonsky & May, 2015;O'Conner, 2011) argue that this failure to improve our predictive capacity stems from a tendency to focus almost entirely on variables related to thinking about suicide rather than those that facilitate the transition from suicidal ideation to suicidal behavior (Klonsky & May, 2014;Nock & Kessler, 2006;Nock et al, 2008).…”