Access to firearms is a well documented risk factor for suicide. Regardless of why someone might have one or more of AR-15 or similar weapon, there's no disputing their inherent lethality. Irrespective of whether or not they are ever employed as a means of suicide, does their implicit lethality affect the nature/intensity of suicidal ideation and the likelihood that ready access to one may significantly increase the risk of using any firearm in a suicide attempt? Does this have any bearing on the suicidality manifested by perpetrators of mass shootings? If access to firearms creates a baseline capability for suicide, does access to potentially much more deadly firearms enhance that capability?
There are research on this. As a beginning:
Cummings, P., T. D. Koepsell, D. C. Grossman, J. Savarino, and R. S. Thompson, “The Association Between the Purchase of a Handgun and Homicide or Suicide,” American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 87, No. 6, 1997b, pp. 974–978.
Thanks! The article concludes: "Legal purchase of a handgun appears to be associated with a long-lasting increased risk of violent death." My question is does the legal purchase of a semi-automatic rifle raise the risk of violent death by suicide beyond that of the acquisition or possession of a handgun?
"My question is does the legal purchase of a semi-automatic rifle raise the risk of violent death by suicide beyond that of the acquisition or possession of a handgun?" Does it really matter what gun you have at home when you are in deep depression with suicidal ideation. You are the expert on this.
Greetings
Béatrice
Yes. I think it matters at any point in the process that may culminate in a suicide attempt. If use of very lethal means in a suicide attempt that is survived increases the risk of a subsequently fatal attempt then driving up the risk created by access to a weapon that is significantly more deadly than "what gun you have" must be considered in risk assessment and prevention.
This is a personal impression. I think that handgun ownership would be more highly associated with suicide than semi-automatic long gun ownership. Convenience of use is one factor. Cost may well be another, as many long guns are more expensive than handguns. There seems to be a dearth of information concerning whether the incidence of handgun-correlated suicides is significantly greater than those accomplished with long guns. 59% of US murders involve handguns vs. 3% for rifles, but that's not your question. Will look for better answers as you progress in your search. Good luck.
Roderick: Thanks for your thoughts. My question may also bear on high suicide rate in military branches with access to highly lethal means of all types. Not all such suicides involve deployed personnel but combat arms exposure nonetheless.
There's some credibility to the thought that access to any firearm has a positive correlation with suicide. Exposure to arms in a military, police, or other employment setting may well increase their use in suicides involving persons who have acquired familiarity with those weapons. As an incidental anecdote that might relate to familiarity with the method of suicide, a prominent toxicologist friend says that he sees nurses and doctors botch drug-induced suicide attempts frequently, but has never seen a veterinarian fail to kill themselves.
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