The Association Between State Laws Regulating Handgun Ownership And Statewide Suicide Rates

More gun control might lead to fewer suicides by gun. Between 1999 and 2013 there were 270,273 firearm suicides in the United States, accounting for 52% of all suicides in those years. Firearm related suicides accounted for 61% of gun deaths in the U.S.A. between 2000 and 2010. Gun control might lead to fewer gun deaths, but it will not lead to fewer suicides. As my father says, “If someone is so mentally deranged that they think taking their lives is the best solution to their problems, they will commit with anyway possible”

The study found that “states with the strictest gun control laws had lower rates of gun-related homicides and suicides.” Although this result cannot draw a causal relationship between gun control policies and homicides, it proves that legislative strength and firearm deaths and ownership are negatively correlated.

Current Gun Control regulations do not deter violence and crime. It has been shown that places that have relaxed their gun control laws have a higher crime and death rate. Data proves that homicide rates “[...] among the metro areas whose principal city is in a state that requires some form of permit to purchase a gun, is 4.32 per 100,000 residents, compared with 5.74 among cities in no-permit states”(Bailey). This is evidence that there is a correlation between gun control and death rates. It is also proven with statistical evidence that places with the least amount of gun control have the most violence. Statistics show that “‘none of the states with the most gun violence require permits to purchase rifles, shotguns, or handguns. Gun owners are also not required to register

Research shows that whether attempters live or die depends in large part on the ready availability of firearms. A study by the Harvard School of Public Health of all 50 U.S. states reveals a powerful link between rates of firearm ownership and suicides. Based on a survey of American households conducted in 2002, it was found that in states where guns were prevalent—as in Wyoming, where 63 percent of households reported owning guns—rates of suicide were higher. The inverse was also true: where gun ownership was less common, suicide rates were also lower ( Harvard). Many lives could be saved if firearms weren't so accessible. The American government needs to adopt policies that would keep guns out of the hands of vulnerable adults and

(Zilvin 2007). A study was conducted to identified higher risks of suicidal in veterans, and the conclusion stated that veterans that are depressed have higher risk for suicide. This results can assist to focus on a certain group continuously and monitor closely to detect suicidal behavior and prevent it. Another cause of suicide is PTSD leads to depression and if not treated could lead to suicide but more study is to be done. ?For example, use and frequency of psychotherapy visits and adherence to psychiatric medications could influence the relationship between depression, PTSD, and completed suicide? (Zilvin 2007).

One of the main topics of debate is whether or not gun laws actually correspond with lower murder rates. “The average annual gun death rate ranged from almost 3 per 100,000 in Hawaii to 18 per 100,000 in Louisiana. Hawaii had 16 gun laws, and along with New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts was among states with the most laws and fewest deaths. States with the fewest laws and most deaths included Alaska, Kentucky, Louisiana and Oklahoma.” (CBSnews.com). These statistics can lead one to believe that more gun laws equate to lower death rates. What these numbers prove is that some gun regulations help lower death rates. However, what gun control activists would have you believe that a full on gun ban would lower these numbers more. This is not the case as evident in the following, “During the years in which the D.C. handgun ban and trigger lock law was in effect, the Washington, D.C. murder rate averaged 73% higher than it was at the outset of the law, while the U.S. murder rate averaged 11% lower” (James D.

Many teenagers and even adults feel worthless and depressed and give up on life. Instead of taking action and getting help to solve their life problems, these people choose to commit suicide. There are about 30,000 suicide deaths per year. This number is outrageously high. One out of every 45 attempts of suicide actually succeeds. Whether suicide attempters succeed or fail, all depends on how easy it is for them to get the resources they want to use for this task, especially firearms. Deborah Azrael, a research associate at Harvard’s Research Center, found that when guns were predominant in a state, suicide rates were higher. The inverse of this statement was also correct, in states where guns were not prevalent, suicide rates were lower. Many lives would be saved, many suicides would be prevented, and many families would be able to avoid heartbreak and despair, if firearms were not accessible in the United

ProCon.org recently featured an article that studied gun control. “Stricter state gun laws associated with fewer gun deaths, study finds.” The article discussed gun control laws in states with stricter laws tend to have lower rates of gun related homicides, and a suicide (ProCon para. 1) Gun control in the United States is becoming a wide spread issue and is becoming a problem everywhere. Although I am living in a city with uprising crime that has been skyrocketing over the years, I wasn’t aware of this being an issue all over the United States. I decided to do some research to find out whether I am in favor of Gun control laws or not. After reviewing many articles for and against gun control, I found out that I do in fact agree with

This means more than half of the suicide in America was done using a firearm. Perhaps the use of firearms use in suicides are high is because it is also reported by GunPolicy that, “The estimated total number of guns held by civilians in the United States is 270,000,000.” Also it is important to take in an account that this number possibly can be much greater because illegal guns and unregistered guns might not be included. With this amount of guns in America, someone with the passion to kill someone or themselves, the most convenient way to commit suicide or kill someone would be to obtain one of the million guns across America. The number of suicides from firearms are so high because the availability to obtain the potentially greater 270,000,000 guns in America. Gun control laws can potential decrease passion crimes and suicides. In Australia, they have passed guns laws that have reduced homicides and suicides. The law that made it possible for the decrease in firearm suicides and homicide for civilians is that

Due to the politics underlying both, gun control and mental-health legislation, this recent shift came with a lack of simplicity. Being careful not to ignite inaccurate stigmas about mental illnesses; advocacy groups and congressional Democrats remained reluctant not to connect escalating gun violence with people suffering from mental health disorders as the leading cause of these recent shootings. Deep disagreements on Capitol Hill, along with great demands from family members of individuals diagnosed with severe mental illness would not come cheap. Also, it would only become another obstacle standing in the way of accomplishing the goal of bringing change to the mental health system (Sun,

In the article, Americas Deadly Gun Addiction, By the Numbers written by Joanna Pearlstein, data is released regarding the United States having more guns that adults in the country. The mass shootings across the country has led to many civilians wanting more gun control. President Obama spoke to the nation that more background checks will be ran to hopefully reduce this situation, and lower the gun deaths in the United States, however gun lobbyers argue that it is not the guns themselves that are causing the issue and they believe that no matter how many background checks are ran you cannot make sure that a fun will not be placed in the hands of someone who many end someone’s life unexpectedly.

The use of handguns to perpetrate acts of violence, especially homicides, had increased dramatically by 1988. Many suburban and metropolitan areas across the country faced these changes, as more handguns were made available to the public despite gun laws. In a 1990 edition of Parade Magazine, United States Chief Justice Warren Burger, made his stance on the controversial issue known. Though the gun control debate is still largely communicated, Burger’s talking points allowed for a fresh perspective from both a legal and Constitutional aspect. In his article, Burger establishes historical relevance to the current gun control debate by use of his standing, emotional control, and exceptional reasoning

If US citizens do not have guns than many of these citizens will be in harm's way. Gun control will not prevent suicides. If gun laws are enacted there will still be suicides. Suicide is one of the main causes of death. Many countries that have low gun rates have high suicide rates. Also taking away guns is not going to cure mental illnesses. The US should not take away from stable people but instead take these guns away from mentally unstable people. Many school shootings and or mass shootings happen from mentally unstable humans. The United States should send more money to mental facilities or psychiatric hospitals instead of taking the money and putting it towards gun control. Not only should the US put more funding towards mental and psychiatric

Furthermore, this research will hypothesize that states with stricter gun control laws will have lower rates of youth gun suicide than states with more lenient or no gun control laws proposed specifically to limit youths, because those laws will restrict youths from accessing a firearm. The assumed findings will demonstrate that as the severity of sanctions of gun control laws increased, youth gun suicide rate will decreased. Meanwhile, there are other factors that will affect youth gun violence rate, such as psychological illnesses, past suicidal ideation/attempts, low parental monitoring, and as well as past risk behaviors committed by the youth. However, these factors can be discussed in researches analyzing the social aspects of youth gun

Suicide is one leading cause of death in the United States; thousands of people commit suicide or attempt it each year. Firearms is one method people use to commit suicide, and gun control is a way to reduce it. Different types of organizations want to place gun control policies because it could reduce gun violence. The policies will restrict ownership of a gun and purchasing of a gun. Now there are laws that involve with gun control in every state. Andres (2011) found, there are laws that won’t sell guns to people with a bad history, sale of certain guns, and gun trafficking . According to Andres (2011), prohibitions related to mental illness, a drug or alcohol problem, or history of domestic violence problems may linked to suicide prevention.