THE HARD TRUTH
Fig. 4. Graph showing the percentage of suicides by mechanism in Montana
Trevellyan, Kevin. Montana's Rate Of Youth Suicide By Gun Is Among The Nation's Worst, 2019, www.mtpr.org/post/montanas-rate-youth-suicide-gun-among-nations-worst.
Fig. 5. A graph displaying the homicide and suicide rate compared to other countries
Gun Violence in the United States, 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_the_United_States.
FACTS AND STATS
From 2007 to 2017, the youth suicide rate increased by 58 percent, 32 percent of those were gun related.
States implementing universal background checks and mandatory waiting periods prior to the purchase of a firearm show lower rates of suicides than states without this legislation.
Having a gun in the home, regardless of storage practice, type of gun, or number of firearms, is associated with an increased risk of firearm suicide.
Firearms account for over more than half of the suicides in America.​ Nearly two-thirds of firearm deaths are suicides. With the on-going pandemic, the numbers in suicides has spiked. If the government put restrictions on guns, this would be prevented. Even if one attempted suicide with another object or substance, they are far more likely to survive. Guns are the most lethal object available. Although waiting periods have decreased the suicide rate, it still hasn't done enough. The government must find a way to get these numbers down even more. Firearm suicide is a public health crisis in the U.S. There are 63 deaths of suicide by a gun everyday. The problem is only getting worse as the suicide rate with firearms has increased by 65% in the last decade. Not to mention, veterans suicide rate is 1.5 times higher than the average citizen in America. In a recent study, by everytownresearch.org, roughly 40 million American adults reported someone who has either attempted or died by suicide with a gun. Research also shows that access to a gun triples someone's risk of committing suicide. Men with access to guns in the house make up 86% of suicide with firearms.
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