- Every day, 17 veterans die from suicide (source)
- Veterans have 50% higher risk of suicide than other Americans (source)
- 33%: Increase in veteran firearm suicide rate in the past decade (23% for non-veterans) (source, source)
- The West has the highest rate of veteran firearm suicides, followed closely by the South (source)
- Firearms suicide fatality rate: 85% (5% with other methods) (source, source)
- Gun ownership increases the risk of suicide 3x (source, source)
- 45% of veterans own guns (20% of non-veterans) (source)
- In one study, 93% of veterans think the VA should offer voluntary ways for at-risk veterans to reduce their access to firearms (source)
Compiled by Andrea Austin and Megan Ranney, MD, MPH, for AFFIRM Research (www.affirmresearch.org).
One Response to “By the Numbers: Veterans and Firearms Injury”
February 9, 2020
Timothy CarswellThese numbers are misleading. For example, the last thing says, “93% of veterans” which is not what the study say, it says veterans in “mental health treatment”, not “of ALL veterans”.