A Gun in the Home Increases the Risk of Suicide

In a recent US Supreme Court decision an existing ban on firearms kept unlocked in the home was struck down. This relaxation will lead to more guns being kept in the home, with the consequence that the number of successful suicides will increase. An article in the New England Journal of Medicine has examined the reasons for this.

Gun suicide in 2005 accounted for 53% of all suicides – 40% more deaths than gun homicide. Why does increased availability of guns increase the risk of completed suicide?

First, many suicides (33% - 80%) are impulsive; in as many as 70%, the time between decision to act and the act itself was less than an hour.

Second, many suicidal crises are self-limiting. Not having an immediate ‘solution’ can allow the desire to subside.

Third, gunshot wounds are more likely to prove lethal than drugs or cutting.

As further evidence of the role of guns in suicide, the article uses data from US states with the highest levels of household gun ownership compared with states with the lowest levels. Among men and women, and in every age group (including children), states with higher rates of household gun ownership had higher rates of firearm suicide and overall suicides – approximately double the number of total suicides, and 3 to 8 times the number of firearm suicides.

It’s important to remember that the higher risk of suicide in homes with guns applies not only to the gun owner, but also to the spouse and children. And how the gun is stored is relevant. One study has shown that adolescent suicide is 4 times as likely in homes with a loaded but unlocked firearm as in homes with a secured (unloaded and locked) gun.