An article in The New York Times highlights many of the horribly depressing gun suicide statistics and reveals that states with the highest suicide rates also have the highest gun ownership rates. These are
“The literature suggests that having a gun in your home to protect your family is like bringing a time bomb into your house,” Dr. Mark Rosenberg, an epidemiologist who helped start the CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, told the Times.
Close to two-thirds of the 30,000 gun deaths in the U.S. in 2010 were suicides, according to the CDC, and the national suicide rate has risen 12 percent since 2003.
Also, gun suicides are much more likely to be fatal than other forms of suicide, with 85 percent of them leading to fatalities, versus only 2 percent of suicide attempts with pills, according to the Harvard study.
However, some state health departments are trying to reduce gun deaths by giving out gun locks, the Times reports.
In New Hampshire and Vermont, gun shops are trying to prevent
This map shows states with the highest suicide rates: