More Guns Mean More Suicides

Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health have found that suicide rates among children, women and men of all ages are higher in states where more households have guns. “We found that where there are more guns, there are more suicides,” according to the lead author of the study, which appears in the April 2007 edition of The Journal of Trauma. In the 15 states with the highest levels of household gun ownership, twice as many people committed suicide as in the six states with the lowest levels, even though the population in both research groups was about the same. The press release adds, “The association between firearm ownership and suicide was due to higher gun-related suicides; non-gun-related suicide rates were not significantly associated with rates of firearm ownership.” If this research promotes gun control, that’s great. But is anyone surprised by these results?

Source: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/2007-releases/press04102007.html


Posted by Susan Rogers