Do Guns in the Home Increase Suicide Rates?

Among Americans under age 45, suicide is one of the top three causes of death. More than 32,000 Americans committed suicide in 2004, and more than half used guns.

Keeping a gun in your home raises your risks for suicide. For someone thinking about suicide, having a gun in the house makes it the easiest, most final method.

More people attempt suicide than actually end up killing themselves. If they try overdosing on drugs, they are often found and saved before dying. If they cut themselves, they are often found before they bleed to death. However, more than 90 percent of all suicide attempts by firearms end in death. Drugs are used more often in suicide attempts, but are fatal in only three percent.

Suicide rates are highest in states where most households have guns. Twice as many people in those states commit suicide than in the six states with the fewest gun-owners.

Experts believe there are two ways to reduce handgun suicides:

1. Family and friends need to see the signs of suicidal behavior and get help for the person.

Signs include:

• Hopelessness
• Depression
• Social withdrawal
• Giving personal items away
• Changes in behavior and speech
• Comments like "You'd be better off without me," or saying good-bye
• Rage
• Loss of control
• Self-destructive behaviors
• Alcoholism or drug abuse

Other risk factors include:

• Gender (males are three to five times more likely to commit suicide than females)
• Psychiatric problems
• Impulsive behavior
• Genetics or family history of suicide
• Depression or other psychiatric illness
• History of suicide attempts (20 percent to 50 percent of people who kill themselves have attempted suicide in the past).


2. The best way to prevent suicide is to remove all guns and ammunition from your home. Suicide is often impulsive and not always thought out.

More than one in three American homes have firearms. If you believe you must have a gun in your home, lock it up and store it - unloaded. Also lock away ammunition, in a separate location. No matter how it's stored, having a gun in the house increases the chances that it will be used for a suicide, violent injury or murder.

Related Articles Keeping Guns out of Kids' Hands

External Sources American Journal of Epidemiology. Guns in the home and risk of a violent death in the home: findings from a national study. Accessed May 17, 2007. American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Risk factors for suicide. Accessed May 22, 2007. National Institute of Mental Health. Assessment of suicidal behaviors and risk among children and adolescents. Accessed May 22, 2007.

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