State-by-state study links gun ownership with youth suicide
"'The availability of firearms is contributing to an increase in the actual number of suicides,' one researcher said.
Suicide rates among U.S. children and teens have hit startling rates and a study now finds one clear predictor of youth suicide: gun ownership.
Youth suicides rates are higher in states with high gun ownership rates, a team at Boston University School of Public Health found.
'Household gun ownership was the single biggest predictor of youth suicide rate in a state,' Dr. Michael Siegel, a public health specialist at BU, told NBC News.
Siegel has been studying the relationships between gun ownership and homicide, suicide and other factors. It’s well known that people with access to a gun are far more likely to complete suicide. And some data had suggested that gun ownership in general was associated with higher suicide rates."
Author: Maggie Fox.
Outlet: NBC News.