By the Numbers: 22 June 2020
95%
The percentage of "military firearm suicides" that "involve a personally owned firearm," according to an article published last summer in JAMA Network Open -- Firearm Availability and Storage Practices Among Military Personnel Who Have Thought About Suicide, which also reported, "More than 60% of suicides by US military members, occur at home and involve a firearm."
The researchers posited that since suicide attempts involving firearms "have very high fatality rates," safe storage of firearms in the home "could be an important component of comprehensive suicide prevention in the military."
Of 1652 participants (1071 [64.8%] male; mean [SD] age, 33.6 [15.7] years), 590 participants (35.7%) reported a firearm in or around their home, 141 (8.6%) selected “refuse to answer” or skipped the item, and 11 (0.1%) selected “I don’t know.” Among participants with a firearm in or around the home, 124 (21.0%) indicated their firearms were loaded and unlocked, 188 (32.2%) indicated their firearms were safely stored (ie, unloaded and locked up), 150 (25.3%) indicated their firearms were not safely stored (ie, 60 [10.2%] unloaded but not locked up and 90 [15.3%] locked up but loaded), and 126 [21.3%] refused to answer or skipped the items.
95%
The percentage of "military firearm suicides" that "involve a personally owned firearm," according to an article published last summer in JAMA Network Open -- Firearm Availability and Storage Practices Among Military Personnel Who Have Thought About Suicide, which also reported, "More than 60% of suicides by US military members, occur at home and involve a firearm."
The researchers posited that since suicide attempts involving firearms "have very high fatality rates," safe storage of firearms in the home "could be an important component of comprehensive suicide prevention in the military."
Of 1652 participants (1071 [64.8%] male; mean [SD] age, 33.6 [15.7] years), 590 participants (35.7%) reported a firearm in or around their home, 141 (8.6%) selected “refuse to answer” or skipped the item, and 11 (0.1%) selected “I don’t know.” Among participants with a firearm in or around the home, 124 (21.0%) indicated their firearms were loaded and unlocked, 188 (32.2%) indicated their firearms were safely stored (ie, unloaded and locked up), 150 (25.3%) indicated their firearms were not safely stored (ie, 60 [10.2%] unloaded but not locked up and 90 [15.3%] locked up but loaded), and 126 [21.3%] refused to answer or skipped the items.