Guns & America

A new study says the U.S. gun death rate last year hit its highest mark in nearly three decades. And the rate among women has been growing faster than that of men. The paper was published Tuesday by JAMA Network Open. The researchers examined trends in firearm deaths since 1990. They say gun deaths began to steadily increase in 2005. But the rise accelerated recently, with a 20% jump from 2019 to 2021.

The original idea behind a Larimer County gun safety program was to prevent youth homicides and accidents. But now, as kids spend more time at home and coronavirus stressors persist, the focus is expanding to include teen suicide prevention.

“Most suicide prevention PSAs stress a doom-and-gloom outlook and stress the tragedy of suicide. And from my point of view, [that] may do more harm than good.”

In the rural Mountain West, where suicide rates are high and guns are everywhere, momentum behind one solution is growing: During a time of crisis, get the guns out of the house.

One suicide prevention advocate in rural Idaho says, “They're just left picking up the pieces and not knowing where to turn.”

Experts fear these increases could continue as the pandemic drags on.

But these stolen weapons may not be the main source of firearms used in crimes.

Safety experts recommend securing firearms with a trigger or cable locking device, or locking them up in a cabinet or biometric safe that can only be accessed by the owner.

It is impossible for police to employ them in a way that does not risk severe injury, or even death, to protesters, according to weapons experts.

A federal program that gives military equipment to police is once again under fire — and some universities are listening.