Teen Suicide Rates Are Higher In States Where More People Own Guns

When we think about gun deaths in the United States, mass shootings and murders may come to mind first. But guns are also a leading method of suicide, especially and tragically among young people. In 2016, nearly 60 percent of all firearm deaths were suicides, according to the CDC. In that same year, more than 1,100 young people between the ages of 10 and 19 died by suicide by firearm. In 2017, 43.1 percent of youth suicides involved a firearm.

Now, a detailed study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine documents the close link between higher suicide rates among youth (between the ages of 10 and 19) and higher levels of household gun ownership. A team of public-health researchers at Boston University found that for each 10-percent increase in household gun ownership in a U.S. state, the youth suicide rate (overall, not just firearm-related) increased by more than 25 percent.