Firearm suicides make up two-thirds of all firearm deaths in the United States. In Arizona, it’s worse.
At 71%, the state has one of the highest suicide rates by firearm rates, according to the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence (EFSGV).
Last month, Arizona Public Health Association (AZPHA) held a conference Sept. 9 addressing firearm suicide prevention in Arizona. Members of Moms Demand Action, an organization advocating for public safety laws to protect people from gun violence, and AZPHA discussed personal experiences involving firearm suicide and preventative measures.
“Firearm suicide is a significant public health crisis in our country. Claiming the lives of nearly 24,000 Americans every year, including over 1,100 children and teens,” said RJ Shannon with Moms Demand Action.
In 2019, a report by the congressional Joint Economic Committee revealed the Phoenix-metro area had the sixth-highest rate of firearm suicides among urban areas in the country. The national average for firearm suicide rates is 7.7 deaths per population of 100,000. In the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale area the average is 10.6 per 100,000.
Part of the reason firearm suicide rates are higher in Arizona is that rate in rural areas is double that of urban areas. Arizona is primarily rural, and the combination of high firearm ownership and limited mental health treatment options puts communities at risk.
Data from the United Health Foundation shows that men and boys in Arizona are affected the most by firearm suicides, making up 85% of all deaths.
Carol Bates, a member of Moms Demand Action and a survivor of gun violence and suicide,
spoke about her son Kevin’s death in 1994.
“Kevin was 29. He served four years in the army and left because he was gay. He was lost and drifted from one bad experience to another,” said Bates.
“I came home from doing errands to realize that Kevin was not in his room. As I searched, I placed a 911 call after seeing a spot of blood, and as I hung up the phone, I looked up to see blood dripping through the ceiling. Kevin had gone into the attic and shot himself.”
Most people who attempt suicide do not die unless they use a gun, according to Everytown research.
“Suicide attempts with a gun result in a 90% fatality rate. In contrast, suicide attempts without a gun result in a less than 4% death rate. That is a huge gap between using a gun and not using a gun,” Shannon said.
Moms Demand Action and AZPHA support common sense solutions. Policies like Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO), Child Access Prevention laws (CAP), Permit to Purchase laws, along with stronger background checks, have been proven to reduce firearm suicide rates.
Connecticut passed a Permit to Purchase law in 1995, resulting in a 15% decrease in firearm suicide rates. On the opposite end, when Missouri repealed its law in 2007, suicide rates rose by 16%, according to research from Johns Hopkins University.
Firearm suicides rates are rising in both urban and rural Arizona. AZPHA and Moms Demand Action are advocating for strong preventative measures to keep those rates from rising any higher.
Kelli Donely Williams, the president-elect of AZPHA, says that in Arizona, firearms are
culturally accepted, and conversations around gun control immediately become political.
However, she says, public health fundamentally cannot not be political.
“We have to be a strong science-based voice for everyone,” Williams said. “It cannot be a conversation about gun control in Arizona. It has to be a conversation about safety.”
