SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Gun-related suicides have increased by 11%, according to a new analysis of firearm deaths in more than 750 U.S. cities from 2014 to 2020.
The study from NYU Langone Health and the Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund shows that 40% of gun-related deaths in American cities are suicides. According to the report, those numbers account for 7,000 deaths yearly, or 20 suicides daily.
Researchers found that smaller cities had higher risks of gun suicide rates, with Bradenton and Sarasota, Florida; Cheyenne, Wyoming; Grand Junction, Colorado; and Lake Havasu City, Arizona, among the highest.
Other trends discovered by researchers included states with stricter gun laws accounting for half the rate of gun suicides in cities compared to states with the weakest laws.
The president of Everytown for Gun Safety, John Feinblatt, shared that cities are at the forefront of the gun violence crisis and the gun suicide crisis.
“Cities have long been on the frontlines of America’s gun violence crisis — and this report makes it clear they’re also on the frontlines of our nation’s gun suicide crisis,” Feinblatt said. “Many gun suicides are slow-motion tragedies, and city leaders need support from their state and federal counterparts when it comes to enacting laws to disarm people in crisis.”
The study found that how cities are constructed plays a significant role in the numbers, as cities with the most parks or walkable neighborhoods had half the rate of suicide as those with the fewest.
It was also discovered that cities with the most gun shops have four times more gun suicide rates than those with the fewest.
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