Safer storage of firearms at home and risk of suicide: a study of protective factors in a nationally representative sample

Objective: To estimate the protective effect of storing firearms locked or unloaded, or both, on the risk of suicide by firearms among people with relatively low intention to die. Design and setting: Cross sectional survey. The 1993 National Mortality Followback Survey of 22 957 deaths in the United...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of epidemiology and community health (1979) 2004-10, Vol.58 (10), p.841-848
Main Authors: Shenassa, Edmond D, Rogers, Michelle L, Spalding, Kirsten L, Roberts, Mary B
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adolescents
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Aged
Biological and medical sciences
Cause of Death
community health
Consumer Product Safety
Cross-Sectional Studies
Dwellings
Evidence Based Public Health Policy and Practice
Female
Firearm laws & regulations
Firearms
Firearms - statistics & numerical data
gun control
Guns
Handguns
Homes
Homicide
Households
Humans
Logistic Models
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Miscellaneous
Mortality
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Risk Factors
Safety
Suicide
Suicide - prevention & control
Suicide - statistics & numerical data
suicide prevention
Suicide rates
Suicides & suicide attempts
United States - epidemiology
Wounds, Gunshot - mortality
Wounds, Gunshot - prevention & control
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Summary:Objective: To estimate the protective effect of storing firearms locked or unloaded, or both, on the risk of suicide by firearms among people with relatively low intention to die. Design and setting: Cross sectional survey. The 1993 National Mortality Followback Survey of 22 957 deaths in the United States, representing 2.2 million people, conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics. Participants: Decedent’s next of kin answered questions regarding various aspects of decedent’s life to supplement information from death certificates. Main results: Compared with decedents who stored their firearm unlocked or loaded, those who stored their firearms locked or unloaded, or both, were less likely to commit suicide by firearms (locked: OR = 0.39, 95% CI = 0.24 to 0.66; unloaded OR = 0.30, 95% CI = 0.18 to 0.49). Conclusions: This study further supports the utility of devices and practices intended to reduce the likelihood of unauthorised or impulsive use of firearms.
ISSN:0143-005X
1470-2738
DOI:10.1136/jech.2003.017343