To investigate a possible association between firearm regulations and suicide, we compared the incidence of suicide from 1985 through 1987 in King County, Washington, with that in the Vancouver metropolitan area, British Columbia, where firearm regulations are more restrictive. The risk of death from suicide was not found to differ significantly between King County and the Vancouver area (relative risk, 0.97; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.87 to 1.09). The rate of suicide by firearms, however, was higher in King County (relative risk, 2.34; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.90 to 2.88), because the rate of suicide by handguns was 5.7 times higher there. The difference in the rates of suicide by firearms was offset by a 1.5-fold higher rate of suicide by other means in the Vancouver area. Persons 15 to 24 years old had a higher suicide rate in King County than in the Vancouver area (relative risk, 1.38; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.02 to 1.86). Virtually all the difference was due to an almost 10-fold higher rate of suicide by handguns in King County. We conclude that restricting access to handguns might be expected to reduce the suicide rate in persons 15 to 24 years old, but that it probably would not reduce the overall suicide rate.
Source Information
Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, Seattle, WA 98104.
This article has been cited by other articles:
Miller, M, Azrael, D, Hepburn, L, Hemenway, D, Lippmann, S J
(2006). The association between changes in household firearm ownership and rates of suicide in the United States, 1981-2002.. Inj. Prev.
12: 178-182
[Abstract][Full Text]
Shenassa, E. D, Daskalakis, C., Buka, S. L
(2006). Utility of indices of gun availability in the community. J. Epidemiol. Community Health
60: 44-49
[Abstract][Full Text]
Dahlberg, L. L., Ikeda, R. M., Kresnow, M.-j.
(2004). Guns in the Home and Risk of a Violent Death in the Home: Findings from a National Study. Am J Epidemiol
160: 929-936
[Abstract][Full Text]
Shenassa, E. D, Rogers, M. L, Spalding, K. L, Roberts, M. B
(2004). Safer storage of firearms at home and risk of suicide: a study of protective factors in a nationally representative sample. J. Epidemiol. Community Health
58: 841-848
[Abstract][Full Text]
Branas, C. C., Nance, M. L., Elliott, M. R., Richmond, T. S., Schwab, C. W.
(2004). Urban-Rural Shifts in Intentional Firearm Death: Different Causes, Same Results. Am. J. Public Health
94: 1750-1755
[Abstract][Full Text]
Brent, D. A., Bridge, J.
(2003). Firearms Availability and Suicide: Evidence, Interventions, and Future Directions. American Behavioral Scientist
46: 1192-1210
[Abstract]
Conwell, Y., Duberstein, P. R., Connor, K., Eberly, S., Cox, C., Caine, E. D.
(2002). Access to Firearms and Risk for Suicide in Middle-Aged and Older Adults. AJGP
10: 407-416
[Abstract][Full Text]
Wintemute, G. J., Parham, C. A., Beaumont, J. J., Wright, M., Drake, C.
(1999). Mortality among Recent Purchasers of Handguns. NEJM
341: 1583-1589
[Abstract][Full Text]
de Moore, G. M., Robertson, A. R.
(1999). Suicide Attempts by Firearms and by Leaping From Heights: A Comparative Study of Survivors. Am. J. Psychiatry
156: 1425-1431
[Abstract][Full Text]
Michael, M., Meddings, D. R, Ramez, S., Gutiérrez-Fisac, J. L.
(1999). Incidence of weapon injuries not related to interfactional combat in Afghanistan in 1996: prospective cohort study. BMJ
319: 415-417
[Abstract][Full Text]
Stolinsky, D. C., Stolinsky, S. A., Sloan, J. H., Koepsell, T., McDowall, D., Loftin, C.
(1994). Guns in the Home. NEJM
330: 1157-1159
[Full Text]
Previous
