The alarming truth that over half of all suicide deaths in America now involve a firearm opens a chilling window into a national crisis that claims more than 27,000 lives a year and disproportionately impacts veterans, rural communities, and older white men.
Key Takeaways
- In 2021, there were 26,328 suicide deaths by firearm in the United States, accounting for 54.4% of all suicide deaths that year
- Firearm suicides made up 73% of all firearm deaths among children and adolescents aged 1-17 years in 2021
- The age-adjusted firearm suicide rate in the US increased by 37% from 12.1 per 100,000 in 2011 to 16.6 per 100,000 in 2021
- In 2021, 89% of suicide decedents who used firearms were male
- White males comprised 68% of all firearm suicide decedents in 2021
- Among males aged 25-34, firearm suicide rate was 27.5 per 100,000 in 2021
- The US firearm suicide rate increased 35% from 2000 to 2020
- Firearm suicides rose 14% during 2020 pandemic year alone
- From 2011-2021, youth firearm suicide rates doubled from 2.5 to 5.0 per 100k
- Wyoming had highest rate 36.5 per 100k in 2021, up from 30.2 in 2011
- Montana firearm suicide rate 32.1 per 100k 2021
- Alaska 30.8 per 100k, highest for females at 10.2 in 2021
- Household firearm ownership correlates r=0.78 with state rates 2021
- States with universal checks had 7% lower firearm suicide rates per RAND meta-analysis
- 85% of firearm suicides use handgun, 15% long guns per NVDRS 2018-2021
Firearm suicides are a lethal and growing crisis in America, hitting record highs.
Demographic Statistics
- In 2021, 89% of suicide decedents who used firearms were male
- White males comprised 68% of all firearm suicide decedents in 2021
- Among males aged 25-34, firearm suicide rate was 27.5 per 100,000 in 2021
- Females aged 45-64 had a firearm suicide rate of 6.8 per 100,000 in 2020
- Non-Hispanic White individuals had 77% of firearm suicides in 2021
- Males aged 65-74 accounted for 15% of firearm suicides in 2021
- Black females had the lowest firearm suicide rate at 1.9 per 100,000 in 2021
- Veterans represented 13.5% of all US suicides but 18% of firearm suicides in 2020
- Among Asian/Pacific Islander males, rate was 7.2 per 100,000 firearm suicides 2021
- Rural White males had firearm suicide rates 2.5 times urban counterparts in 2021
- Males aged 18-24 had 25.1 firearm suicides per 100,000 in 2021
- Hispanic males firearm suicide rate was 9.8 per 100,000 in 2021
- Females over 75 had 4.2 per 100,000 firearm suicide rate 2021
- American Indian males had 28.4 per 100,000 firearm suicide rate 2021
- Among married individuals, 52% of firearm suicides were married males 2021 NVDRS
- Unemployed decedents had 2x higher odds of firearm suicide in NVDRS 2018-2020
- Males with prior mental health diagnosis 45% in firearm suicides 2021
- White non-Hispanics aged 55-64 had 32.1 per 100,000 rate 2021
- Black males 35-54 had 12.5 per 100,000 firearm suicide rate 2021
- Females in South region 7.1 per 100,000 firearm suicides 2021
- Veterans aged 18-34 had 87% firearm suicides in 2020
- Non-binary individuals rare but 2% of youth firearm suicides 2021
- Males with college education had lower rate 18.9 vs 25.4 no HS diploma 2021
- Hispanic females under 25: 2.1 per 100,000 firearm rate 2021
- Rural males 15-24: 18.3 per 100,000 vs urban 10.2 in 2021
- Elderly White males 85+: 81.2 per 100,000 firearm suicides 2021
Demographic Statistics Interpretation
While these stark numbers reveal a tragic public health crisis, they also paint a disturbingly precise portrait of America's most vulnerable to firearm suicide: an older, rural, White male, whose isolation, identity, and access to lethal means form a perfect and fatal storm.
Geographic Data
- Wyoming had highest rate 36.5 per 100k in 2021, up from 30.2 in 2011
- Montana firearm suicide rate 32.1 per 100k 2021
- Alaska 30.8 per 100k, highest for females at 10.2 in 2021
- New Mexico 25.4 per 100k firearm suicides 2021
- Idaho 28.7 per 100k, rural heavy influence 2021
- West Virginia 27.9 per 100k 2021
- Oklahoma 24.6 per 100k firearm suicides 2021
- Kentucky 23.8 per 100k 2021
- South Dakota 26.2 per 100k 2021
- North Dakota 25.1 per 100k 2021
- Louisiana 22.4 per 100k 2021
- Arkansas 23.1 per 100k 2021
- Tennessee 21.7 per 100k firearm suicides 2021
- Alabama 21.3 per 100k 2021
- Nevada 20.9 per 100k 2021
- Colorado 19.8 per 100k 2021
- Utah 22.5 per 100k 2021
- Arizona 20.2 per 100k 2021
- Oregon 19.5 per 100k 2021
- Washington DC lowest at 2.1 per 100k firearm suicides 2021
- California 8.4 per 100k 2021, lowest among large states
- New York 4.2 per 100k 2021
- Massachusetts 3.9 per 100k 2021
- New Jersey 4.6 per 100k 2021
- Southern states averaged 22.5 per 100k vs Northeast 6.8 in 2021
- Rural counties 2x urban rates, 20.1 vs 9.5 per 100k 2021
- 90% of US counties with highest rates in West/South 2021
Geographic Data Interpretation
The grim map of American despair is written in bullets, with the vast, lonely West and South bearing the heaviest script, while tightly packed coastal cities and restrictive states pen a far quieter, though not silent, footnote.
Incidence Rates
- In 2021, there were 26,328 suicide deaths by firearm in the United States, accounting for 54.4% of all suicide deaths that year
- Firearm suicides made up 73% of all firearm deaths among children and adolescents aged 1-17 years in 2021
- The age-adjusted firearm suicide rate in the US increased by 37% from 12.1 per 100,000 in 2011 to 16.6 per 100,000 in 2021
- In 2020, males accounted for 87.9% of all firearm suicide deaths in the US, totaling 24,292 deaths
- Firearms were the most common method of suicide among US veterans, involved in 13,052 veteran suicides in 2020 (69.8%)
- Among adults aged 25-44, the firearm suicide rate was 18.2 per 100,000 in 2021
- In rural areas, firearm suicides comprised 68% of all suicides in 2021, compared to 49% in urban areas
- The firearm suicide rate for non-Hispanic White males was 29.3 per 100,000 in 2021
- Firearm suicides increased by 42.6% from 2019 to 2020 in US youth aged 10-24
- In 2022 preliminary data, firearm suicides totaled over 27,000, a record high
- Firearms accounted for 55% of suicides among men aged 45-64 in 2021
- The overall US suicide rate by firearm was 14.3 per 100,000 in 2020
- Among American Indian/Alaska Native populations, firearm suicides were 20.5 per 100,000 in 2021
- Firearm-related suicides outnumbered homicides by firearms 2.6 to 1 in 2021
- In 2019, 39% of suicide decedents tested positive for alcohol at time of death, higher in firearm cases
- Firearm suicides in the US reached 24,090 in 2018, per CDC WONDER
- Among those aged 85+, firearm suicide rate was 40.1 per 100,000 males in 2021
- Firearms used in 50.3% of all US suicides from 2015-2019 average
- In 2021, 14 states had firearm suicide rates above 20 per 100,000
- Youth firearm suicides rose 53.5% from 2011 to 2021
- Males aged 75-84 had the highest firearm suicide rate at 42.4 per 100,000 in 2021
- Firearm suicides accounted for 60% of all gun deaths in 2021
- In 2020, firearm suicide rate for White males was 28.7 per 100,000
- Among females, firearm suicides were 5.4 per 100,000 in 2021
- Firearms involved in 70% of rural suicides in 2018-2020 data
- Total firearm suicides 2015-2019 averaged 22,937 annually
- Black males had firearm suicide rate of 10.2 per 100,000 in 2021
- Firearm suicides peaked at 16.0 per 100,000 age-adjusted in 2021
- 48% of suicides by firearm occurred in the home in NVDRS states 2018-2019
- Males 85+ had 102.8 firearm suicides per 100,000 in 2020
Incidence Rates Interpretation
The grim mathematics of these statistics scream a truth we too often whisper: in America, a firearm is not merely an instrument of violence but, with chilling and increasing frequency, the chosen tool for a final, despairing act against oneself, painting a public health crisis in the starkest of terms.
Risk and Prevention Factors
- Household firearm ownership correlates r=0.78 with state rates 2021
- States with universal checks had 7% lower firearm suicide rates per RAND meta-analysis
- 85% of firearm suicides use handgun, 15% long guns per NVDRS 2018-2021
- Prior suicide attempt increases risk 30x for firearm suicide completion
- 44% of firearm suicide decedents had documented mental illness history NVDRS
- Secure storage laws associated with 8% reduction in youth suicides
- Alcohol intoxication in 40% of firearm suicides, BAC>0.08 in 25%
- Veterans with PTSD 4x higher firearm suicide risk
- Impulsivity key: 50% decided within 10 min per survivor studies
- Gun ownership >50% in home triples suicide risk per Harvard study
- Waiting periods reduce firearm suicides by 11% per study
- Depression untreated increases odds 20x for firearm method choice
- Rural isolation correlates with 2.5x higher rates due to access
- 90% of attempts with firearms lethal vs 5% pills, lethality factor
- Family history of suicide doubles risk, firearm access amplifies
- Economic downturns boost rates 15% with high gun ownership
- Background checks for mental health reduce by 3-11% per RAND
- Loaded/unlocked guns in 70% of home firearm suicides NVDRS
- Opioid crisis areas saw 25% higher firearm suicides 2015-2020
- Suicide contagion via media increases copycat firearm use 12%
Risk and Prevention Factors Interpretation
If the data could speak, it would sadly whisper that America's romance with unsecured firearms has turned our homes into loaded statistics, where a moment's despair meets a permanent solution because we've made the means both lethally efficient and recklessly convenient.
Temporal Trends
- The US firearm suicide rate increased 35% from 2000 to 2020
- Firearm suicides rose 14% during 2020 pandemic year alone
- From 2011-2021, youth firearm suicide rates doubled from 2.5 to 5.0 per 100k
- Firearm share of suicides grew from 50% in 2015 to 54% in 2021
- Rural firearm suicide rates up 48% from 1999-2020
- Veteran firearm suicides declined 3.5% from 2019-2020 but still high
- From 1990-2020, overall suicide rate up 30%, but firearm up 38%
- Post-2010, firearm suicides increased annually by 3.2% average
- During COVID-19 2020-2021, firearm suicides up 15% in 10-19 age group
- Firearm suicide peak month is December, up 20% vs September low, 2015-2020
- From 2005-2015, male firearm suicide rate stable then surged 25% 2015-2021
- NVDRS shows 22% increase in firearm suicides 2019-2020 across 32 states
- Long-term 1981-2021, firearm suicide rate from 11.7 to 16.0 per 100k
- Among females, firearm suicide rate up 25% from 2011-2021
- Black firearm suicide rates increased 35% 2011-2021
- Firearm suicides declined 5% in 1990s due to lead removal, then rose
- 2022 saw continued rise, provisional 27,500 firearm suicides
- Seasonal peak in spring-summer for youth firearm suicides 2010-2020
- Post-2008 recession, firearm suicides up 28% by 2018
- Elderly male rates stable high 40+ per 100k over decades
- Hispanic firearm suicide rates doubled 2000-2020
- Midwest saw 40% increase 2010-2021 in firearm suicides
- During lockdowns 2020, home firearm suicides up 30% NVDRS
- Overall gun death rates up, but suicides drove 60% of increase 2010-2021
- Firearm suicide rate for ages 10-14 tripled 2007-2021
- From 2015-2020, annual increase 4.5% in firearm suicides
Temporal Trends Interpretation
While the national conversation often fixates on the flashier statistics of firearm homicide, the cold, relentless climb of firearm suicide—a 35% overall increase since 2000, with youth rates doubling and a tragic, seasonal peak in what should be the most festive month—quietly paints a far more consistent and devastating portrait of American despair.
Sources & References
- Reference 1CDCcdc.govVisit source
- Reference 2KFFkff.orgVisit source
- Reference 3WEBAPPAwebappa.cdc.govVisit source
- Reference 4VAva.govVisit source
- Reference 5RURALHEALTHruralhealth.usask.caVisit source
- Reference 6WONDERwonder.cdc.govVisit source
- Reference 7JAMANETWORKjamanetwork.comVisit source
- Reference 8PEWRESEARCHpewresearch.orgVisit source
- Reference 9EVERYTOWNRESEARCHeverytownresearch.orgVisit source
- Reference 10GUNVIOLENCEARCHIVEgunviolencearchive.orgVisit source
- Reference 11SHEPPARDPRATTsheppardpratt.orgVisit source
- Reference 12SAMHSAsamhsa.govVisit source
- Reference 13THETREVORPROJECTthetrevorproject.orgVisit source
- Reference 14RANDrand.orgVisit source
- Reference 15HSPHhsph.harvard.eduVisit source
- Reference 16NIMHnimh.nih.govVisit source