September is National Suicide Prevention Month, and the Missouri Foundation for Health is now focusing its attention on what they're calling an "epidemic" of firearm suicide in the state.
Firearm suicides are the leading cause of firearm deaths in the state. Jessi LaRose, senior strategist with the Missouri Foundation for Health, joined KMOX to talk more about the problem.
"Missouri ranks about 11th across the nation for the number of suicides by firearms," LaRose explained. "And what people don't realize typically is that about two thirds of firearm deaths in Missouri are actually suicide, and not by not other means."
She said Missouri ranks high for a few reasons, one of them being that the state has a high number of gun owners and people living in gun-owning households.
"And there's historically has not been a lot of efforts to address firearm suicide prevention specifically in the state," she said. "And so this is an area that the Missouri Foundation for Health has been working in over the last several years."
LaRose said that while the focus on reducing gun violence in Missouri is important, it's necessary to include firearm suicide in that discussion.
"What Missouri Foundation for Health is really trying to do and elevate is think about the issue holistically," she said. "That we need to be addressing all types of firearm injury and deaths in all communities in Missouri."
Hear more about the issue of firearm suicide on Total Information AM:
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