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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.

Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF

Is there evidence that gun-control laws lower suicide rates?

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

By William Boger

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YES

Specific legal measures that make it harder to get access to guns have been shown to help reduce the rate of suicides by firearm. Giffords Law Center notes that "suicide attempts are impulsive responses to acute crises." So requiring permits or introducing waiting periods can prevent some attempts.

Laws requiring gun owners to keep their guns secure from youth under a certain age help reduce the risk of youth suicide. "Red flag" protective orders allowing for temporary removal of firearms from at-risk individuals have been shown to help.

Gun owners are almost four times more likely to die by suicide than non-owners, and 9 out of 10 gun-owners succeed in their suicide attempts. While guns are used in less than 10% of all suicide attempts, they account for over half of all suicide deaths.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Johns Hopkins: How do gun laws affect suicide rates?

Giffords Law Center: Gun violence statistics

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR

Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.