Firearm Storage and Firearm Suicide

By Matthew Miller, MD, MPH, ScD; Joeseph Wertz, MD; Sonja A. Swanson, ScD; Joseph A. Simonetti, MD, MPH; Yifan Zhang, PhD; Deborah R. Azrael, PhD

Suicide-prevention interventions often recommend removing firearms from the homes of individuals at elevated risk of suicide or, short of removal, locking and unloading all household firearms. The recommendation to remove firearms is based on strong and consistent evidence. For adults, however, the recommendation to lock firearms is based on few studies with inconsistent findings.

This case-control study investigated decedents aged 15 years or older who lived in a home with firearms in the last year of their life and who died by suicide. Data were from the 1993 National Mortality Followback Survey. Analyses were conducted from June 1, 2024, to March 30, 2025.

April11,2025, 11p.