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Gun ownership and suicide in the United States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

David Lester*
Affiliation:
Richard Stockton State College, Pomona, New Jersey, USA
*
1 Address for correspondence: Dr David Lester, Richard Stockton State College, Pomona, New Jersey, 08240, USA.

Synopsis

The circulation of firearm magazines was used as an index of gun ownership in the states of the USA. States with a higher per capita circulation of firearm magazines had higher suicide rates by gun and higher overall suicide rates. Homicide rates were unrelated to this measure of gun availability. Implications for the prevention of suicide are discussed.

Type
Brief Report
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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