Firearms Suicide

1. Suicide Among Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults�United States, 1980-1992, MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), Vol. 44, No. 15, April 21, 1995, pp. 289-291.

   Key Statistics: Between 1952 and 1992 the incidence of suicide among adolescent and young adults nearly tripled. Between 1980 and 1992 the rate of suicide among youth aged 15 to 19 increased by 28.3 percent (from 8.5 to 10.9 per 100,000) and among youth aged 10 to 14 by 120 percent (from 0.8 to 1.7 per 100,000). Among persons aged 15 to 19 years, firearm-related suicides accounted for 81 percent of the increase in the overall rate from 1980 to 1992. Between 1980 and 1992, among persons less than 25 years old, the proportions of suicides by poisoning, cutting, and other means declined, while the proportions by firearms and hanging increased.

   This study reports trends in suicide among youth in the United States between 1980 and 1992.

2. Suicide in the Home in Relation to Gun Ownership, Arthur L. Kellermann, MD, MPH; Frederick P. Rivara, MD, MPH; et al, The New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 327, No. 7, August 13, 1992, pp. 467-472.

   Key Statistic: The presence of one or more guns in the home increases the risk of suicide in the home nearly five times.

   This study examines the association between the availability of firearms in the home and suicides in the home in two U.S. counties between 1987 and 1990.

3. Suicide in the United States, 1980-1992, Violence Surveillance Summary Series,
   No. 1, S. Patrick Kachur, MD, MPH, and Lloyd B. Potter, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Atlanta, Georgia, 1995.

   Key Statistics: Between 1980 and 1992, suicide rates increased among persons between the ages of 10 and 19 years, among young African-American males, and among elderly males of all races. Firearms accounted for 77 percent of the increase in suicides from 1980 to 1992 and were disproportionately responsible for the increases among the young and the elderly. As in previous decades, western states had the highest rates of suicide. Firearms accounted for many of the geographic differences in suicide rates and explained much of the increase in several states.

   This publication summarizes U.S. trends in suicide rates by: age; race; sex; level of education; marital status; and, geographic distribution between 1980 and 1992. The trends in suicide by method�including firearms�are also described. Tables in the back of the publication chart number and rates of suicide among various groups by year, including a table that ranks rates of suicide by state.

   This publication is free. Call the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at (770) 488-4646 or write to the NCIPC at the CDC, 4770 Buford Hwy., NE, Mailstop K60, Atlanta, GA 30341-3724.

4. The Presence and Accessibility of Firearms in the Homes of Adolescent Suicides: A Case-Control Study, David A. Brent, MD; Joshua A. Perper, MD, LLB, MSc; et al, JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), Vol. 266, No. 21, December 4, 1991, pp. 2989-2995.

   Key Statistics: Guns were twice as likely to be found in the homes of adolescent suicide victims as in the homes of attempters. Even guns stored locked, or separate from ammunition, were associated with suicide by firearms.

   This study examines suicides and suicide attempts among adolescents in western Pennsylvania between 1986 and 1988. The study analyzed whether the presence of firearms in the homes, the type of gun, and the method of firearms storage were associated with risk for adolescent suicide.