The Bronx buyback, for example, recovered 52 semi-automatic pistols—a common crime weapon.
Perhaps even more prominently, gun buybacks may help reduce suicide deaths.
Taking Guns Out of Reach
Almost two out of three shooting deaths were suicides in 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Half of the people who commit suicide use a gun, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
And guns were the most lethal method of suicide, based on a study that used data from eight states from various years between 1989 and 1997.
An estimated 2.7 million Americans planned suicide in 2012 and about 1.3 million attempted it.
About one out of six high school students seriously thought about suicide in 2012, based on 2013 numbers. Almost one in 12 attempted it.
Suicide rates increased 24 percent between 1999 and 2014, the CDC states on its website.
Does that mean that gun buybacks are only for families with a loved one at risk of suicide?
Not necessarily. Studies have shown suicides can be impulsive.
Seven out of ten people who attempt suicide never try it again, which means putting guns out of reach may save lives, according to the Harvard Injury Control Research Center.
Many people who attempt suicide haven’t had major psychological problems before. Often, they encounter a problem, an interpersonal conflict for example, and within hours experience suicidal thoughts.
In such cases, having a gun within reach means a higher likelihood of suicide attempts, and makes it more deadly for those who do try it.
