Who Uses Firearms As a Means of Suicide? A Population Study Exploring Firearm Accessibility and Method Choice

Overview

Journal BMC Med

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialty General Medicine

Date 2009 Sep 26

PMID 19778414

Citations 7

Authors

Helen Klieve

Jerneja Sveticic

Diego De Leo

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: The 1996 Australian National Firearms Agreement introduced strict access limitations. However, reports on the effectiveness of the new legislation are conflicting. This study, accessing all cases of suicide 1997-2004, explores factors which may impact on the choice of firearms as a suicide method, including current licence possession and previous history of legal access.

Methods: Detailed information on all Queensland suicides (1997-2004) was obtained from the Queensland Suicide Register, with additional details of firearm licence history accessed from the Firearm Registry (Queensland Police Service). Cases were compared against licence history and method choice (firearms or other method). Odds ratios (OR) assessed the risk of firearms suicide and suicide by any method against licence history. A logistic regression was undertaken identifying factors significant in those most likely to use firearms in suicide.

Results: The rate of suicide using firearms in those with a current license (10.92 per 100,000) far exceeded the rate in those with no license history (1.03 per 100,000). Those with a license history had a far higher rate of suicide (30.41 per 100,000) compared to that of all suicides (15.39 per 100,000). Additionally, a history of firearms licence (current or present) was found to more than double the risk of suicide by any means (OR = 2.09, P < 0.001). The group with the highest risk of selecting firearms to suicide were older males from rural locations.

Conclusion: Accessibility and familiarity with firearms represent critical elements in determining the choice of method. Further licensing restrictions and the implementation of more stringent secure storage requirements are likely to reduce the overall familiarity with firearms in the community and contribute to reductions in rates of suicide.

Citing Articles

Long gun suicides in the state of Maryland following the firearm safety act of 2013.

Pan I, Zinko J, Weedn V, Nestadt P Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2022; 53(1):29-38.

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Child suicides in Sweden, 2000-2018.

Junuzovic M, Lind K, Jakobsson U Eur J Pediatr. 2021; 181(2):599-607.

PMID: 34476611 PMC: 8821491. DOI: 10.1007/s00431-021-04240-7.

First-person accounts of the processes and planning involved in a suicide attempt on the railway.

Marsh I, Marzano L, Mosse D, Mackenzie J BJPsych Open. 2021; 7(1):e39.

PMID: 33468276 PMC: 8058816. DOI: 10.1192/bjo.2020.173.

Suicide in Rural Australia: Are Farming-Related Suicides Different?.

Kennedy A, Adams J, Dwyer J, Rahman M, Brumby S Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020; 17(6).

PMID: 32197446 PMC: 7143525. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17062010.

Urban-Rural Differences in Suicide in the State of Maryland: The Role of Firearms.

Nestadt P, Triplett P, Fowler D, Mojtabai R Am J Public Health. 2017; 107(10):1548-1553.

PMID: 28817331 PMC: 5607660. DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2017.303865.

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