Background Data

Firearms account for half of the suicides In the United States, (Henn, 2019).

Roughly two-thirds of all deaths from gunshot wounds in America are suicides, (Henn, 2019).

Many suicide attempts occur during a short-term crisis (Simon et al., 2001; Deisenhammer et al., 2009).

If a person has access to a gun during this high-risk time and uses it, he or she is likely to die (Spicer & Miller, 2000). But if a person chooses a less lethal method, he or she is not only more likely to survive that attempt, but is likely to survive period; 90% of survivors of non-fatal attempts do not go on to die by suicide later (Carroll, Metcalfe, & Gunnell, 2014).

Approximately 22 percent of deaths by suicide involved alcohol intoxication, with a blood-alcohol content at or above the legal limit, (CDC, 2014).

A diagnosis of alcohol misuse or dependence is associated with a suicide risk that is 10 times greater than the suicide risk in the general population, and individuals who inject drugs are at about 14 times greater risk for suicide (Wilcox, Conner, & Caine, 2004; SAMHSA, 2009).

Rates of suicide in the U.S. are almost four times higher for men than for women, (samhsa.gov, 2016).

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