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American Roulette
The Untold Story of Murder-Suicide in
the United States
Conclusion
Most people think
of suicide as a solitary act, affecting only one person. Yet, the effects
of murder-suicides go far beyond the shooter: family, friends, co-workers,
and absolute strangers are among those who are gunned down as a result
of these acts of desperation. During the six-month period tallied in
this study, there were 293 suicides�yet the total number of deaths
was 662. More people died from murders associated with the suicide�369�than
from the suicides themselves. These numbers call into grave question
the common belief that suicide, especially firearms suicide, is a solitary
act that affects only the shooter.
The catalytic component
in murder-suicide is the use of a firearm. Every major murder-suicide
study ever conducted has shown that a firearm�with its unmatched combination
of lethality and availability�is the weapon most often used to murder
the victims, with the offenders then turning the gun on themselves.21
In this study, the access to a gun was the critical component for almost
all of the murder-suicides. Of the 54 murder-suicides with more than
one homicide victim, 52 were firearm-related. The presence of a gun
allows the offender to quickly and easily kill a greater number of victims.
If there had not been easy access to a firearm, these deaths may simply
have been injuries, or not have occurred at all.
The pattern to murder-suicide
is distressingly simple: a male offender, a female victim, and a gun�but
literally anyone can be caught in its wake. Unlike homicides, murder-suicides
are far more likely to involve family or intimate acquaintances, and
have different demographics than the typical homicide or suicide. As
a result, murder-suicides require further study as a specific category
of death to help craft more effective prevention strategies.
In the short term,
the nexus between murder-suicide and firearm availability must be recognized.
As is the case with suicide, firearms should be made unavailable to
those at risk for murder-suicide. To ensure increased safety for families
from the full range of gun death and injury, firearms should not be
brought into the home. Just as importantly, murder-suicide, as is the
case with suicide and the vast majority of firearm homicides, illustrates
the stark limitations of gun control measures�such as the licensing
of handgun owners and the registration of the weapon�that focus solely
on the user, and not on the actual presence of the gun.
In the long term,
since the majority of murder-suicides in the United States are firearm-related
(as are the majority of murders and suicides, separately), more comprehensive
measures must be taken to reduce death and injury from these uniquely
unregulated consumer products. Guns are virtually the only consumer
product not regulated for health and safety by a federal agency (the
other being tobacco). Legislation is pending in Congress that would
establish comprehensive health and safety regulation of the gun industry.
The Firearms Safety and Consumer Protection Act would finally end the
firearm industry's deadly exemption from regulation. The bill would:
- Create a system
of comprehensive data collection for firearm-related incidents. This
would enable the collection of specific, accurate data regarding the
number of murder-suicide incidents that occur each year, along with
other valuable information such as the relationship(s) of the perpetrator
to the victim(s), as well as the types of firearms used. The availability
of such data would help identify patterns in murder-suicides, and
thereby help in the development of effective intervention strategies.
- Expand Treasury's
authority to take action against "bad apple" gun retailers who are
knowingly providing firearms to domestic abusers or other persons
prohibited from possessing firearms. This would aid in restricting
the availability of firearms to those prone to domestic violence and
those with severe mental disabilities�common precursors to murder-suicide.
- Create a mechanism
to identify the types of firearms most prone to use in murder-suicides
and allow for the removal from the market of those guns determined
to present an unreasonable risk to public safety.
- Subject the firearms
industry to the same standards that already apply to virtually all
other consumer product manufacturers.
Finally, the most
important step toward both these short-term and long-term goals is the
recognition that suicide does not affect only those who pull the trigger.
Back
to Table of Contents
All contents � 2002 Violence Policy Center
The Violence Policy Center is a national non-profit educational foundation
that conducts research on violence in America and works to develop violence-reduction
policies and proposals. The Center examines the role of firearms in America,
conducts research on firearms violence, and explores new ways to decrease
firearm-related death and injury. |