“Research” carried out using somewhat dubious means and with iffy parameters…
“For each 10 percentage-point increase in household gun ownership, the youth suicide rate increased by 26.9 percent,” they wrote in their report, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
“The only other factors that were associated with overall youth suicide rates were the suicide attempt rate and the percentage of youth who were Native American,” they added.
In Alaska, for instance, the youth suicide rate is 15.2 suicides per 100,000 people aged 19 and under. Just under 60 percent of households have guns. In South Dakota, the suicide rate is 14.9 per 100,000 and again, just under 60 percent of homes had guns in 2004.
In New York and New Jersey, the youth suicide rate is 2.7 and 2.6 per 100,000. In New York, 18.5 percent of households had guns and in New Jersey, 11.4 percent did.
Gun ownership may in fact be driving the rise in suicide rates, the researchers said.
– Maggie Fox for NBC News, State by State Study Links Gun Ownership with Youth Suicide
You know what’s wrong? Our mental health care system is broken. Perhaps more attention should be paid to its repair.