2019

Gun suicides: America's unseen public health crisis


Professor Dr. Jonathan Fielding addresses gun suicides. In 2017, 60 percent of the nearly 40,000 gun deaths in the United States were suicides.

The numbers confirm what we already know: We’re facing an increasing epidemic of gun deaths in America. 2017 was the most dangerous year yet: U.S. firearm deaths reached 39,773, their highest level in 40 years, increasing 16 percent from 2014. The overall number of gun deaths is often in the news, but the stark surprise for many will be that 60 percent of those nearly 40,000 gun deaths were suicides, 23,854. 

Though suicides are America’s largest firearm-related, public health problem, they’re not the most chronicled. That distinction belongs to homicides, which represented 36.5 percent (14,542) of total gun deaths. Accidental firearm discharges, shooting by law enforcement and mass shootings making up the remainder.

Tragically, our gun suicide rate is 10 times that of other high-income countries, and while we account for about 4 percent of the world’s population, we have 35 percent of the world’s gun suicides. Guns are used in 51 percent of American suicide deaths and suicide rates are higher in states with higher per-capita rates of gun ownership. Most suicide attempts are impulse driven in crises. In 90 percent of suicide attempts, survivors do not go on to die by suicide, but having access to a gun makes the equation deadly; 85 percent of gun suicide attempts end fatally, while less than 5 percent of non-firearm suicide attempts do. Firearms are the most lethal means of suicide in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

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Faculty Referenced by this Article

Dr. Jonathan Fielding
Jonathan Fielding
Health Policy and Management
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David Hayes-Bautista
Health Policy and Management
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Dr. Dylan Roby
Dylan Roby
Health Policy and Management
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Jody Heymann
Jody Heymann
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Dr. Elizabeth (Becky) Yano
Elizabeth (Becky) Yano
Health Policy and Management
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Dr. Risha Gidwani
Risha Gidwani
Health Policy and Management
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Dr. Ninez Ponce
Ninez Ponce
Health Policy and Management
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Clifford Ko
Clifford Ko
Health Policy and Management
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James Macinko
James Macinko

Professor of Community Health Sciences & Health Policy and Management, and Associate Dean for Research

Community Health Sciences Health Policy and Management
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Galper, Michael
Michael Galper
Health Policy and Management
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Carol Mangione
Health Policy and Management
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Annette Maxwell
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Z. John Lu
Health Policy and Management
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Julie A. Elginer

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Leah Vriesman
Leah Vriesman
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Thomas Rice
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Felicia Hodge
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Ron D. Hays

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Health Policy and Management
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Sangeeta Ahluwalia
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Avram Kaplan
Health Policy and Management
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Anthony Hunter Schiff
Health Policy and Management
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Roshan Bastani
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Kenneth Wells
Health Policy and Management
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Warren Scott Comulada
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Alice Kuo
Health Policy and Management
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Kristen Choi
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Michelle S. Keller

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Arturo Vargas Bustamante
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Ty Robbins
Health Policy and Management
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Gerald Kominski
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Vickie Mays
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Arlene Fink
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Ron Andersen

Dr. Ron Andersen is the Wasserman Professor Emeritus in the UCLA Departments of Health Policy and Management.

Health Policy and Management
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Diana Hilberman
Health Policy and Management
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Mark Litwin
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Robert Kaplan
Health Policy and Management
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Lillian Gelberg
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Xi Zhu
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Jose J. Escarce
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Robert Brook
Health Policy and Management
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Nadereh Pourat
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Health Policy and Management
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Thomas D. Gordon
Health Policy and Management
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Paul Fu, Jr.
Health Policy and Management
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Paul Chung
Paul Chung
Health Policy and Management
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Frederick Zimmerman
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Comanor, Bill
William Comanor
Health Policy and Management
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Jeanne Miranda
Jeanne Miranda
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Lori Pelliccioni
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Jennifer Wortham
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Alan Tomines
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Susan Ettner
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Brennan Spiegel
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Olivia Jung
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Samuel Sessions
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Sandra Aronberg
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Burt Cowgill
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Laura Erskine
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Jack Needleman
Health Policy and Management
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Beth Glenn
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Stephanie L. Taylor

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Naomi Zewde
Health Policy and Management
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Srikanth Kadiyala
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Pamela Davidson
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Linda Rosenstock
Environmental Health Sciences Health Policy and Management
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Barbara Berman
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Yusuke Tsugawa
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Daniel Eisenberg
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Michael Ong
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Moira Inkelas
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Jean Balgrosky
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Deborah Anne Freund
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Isomi Miake-Lye
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Aria Fallah
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William J. McCarthy
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