Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2001 Fall;31(3):303-10.
doi: 10.1521/suli.31.3.303.24243.

Suicide and firearm prevalence: are youth disproportionately affected?

J Birckmayer  1 , D Hemenway
Affiliations

Suicide and firearm prevalence: are youth disproportionately affected?

J Birckmayer et al. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2001 Fall.

Abstract

The effect of firearm availability on suicide may differ among age groups. We used regression analysis to examine the relationship between suicide rates and household firearm ownership for four age groups in the nine census regions from 1979 to 1994, adjusting for regional divorce rates, education, unemployment, and urbanicity. Results showed that firearm ownership levels are correlated with suicide rates among 15- to 24-year-olds and 65- to 84-year-olds, but not among 25-to 64-year-olds. The findings suggest that if the relationship is causal, a 10% fall in regional firearm ownership levels would lead to a 3.0% decrease in suicide rates.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

  • Suicide and firearm prevalence.
    Freedenthal S. Freedenthal S. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2002 Winter;32(4):456-7; author reply 457-8. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2002. PMID: 12501970 No abstract available.

LinkOut - more resources