More than 60% of US military suicides occur at home and involve a firearm. Nearly all military firearm suicides (95%) involve a personally owned firearm. Nonmilitary data indicate that the risk of suicide is 6 times higher in households with a firearm, although this risk may be reduced if the firearms are kept unloaded and/or locked. Because attempts using firearms have very high fatality rates, safe firearm storage practices could be an important component of comprehensive suicide prevention in the military. This study examined associations of firearm ownership and storage practices with suicidal thoughts and behaviors among military personnel... In this cross-sectional study of a sample of active-duty military personnel, one-third reported a firearm in or around the home. Of this subgroup, one-third reported storing the firearm safely (ie, unloaded and locked up). Although military personnel with recent thoughts about death or self-harm were less likely to have a firearm at home, suicidal personnel who did have a firearm at home were much less likely than nonsuicidal service members to use safe storage. This highlights the importance of emphasizing safe storage of personally owned firearms, including temporary removal of access to firearms for high-risk personnel. Limitations of this study include self-report methods, cross-sectional design, and unknown response rate. Further research focused on firearm availability and storage practices among military personnel is warranted.
Language: en
LA - en SN - 2574-3805 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.9160 ID - ref1 ER -