Bipartisan gun access limitations, which proponents claim are necessary to stop such atrocities, are absent from the deal reached by the U.S. Senate after high-profile mass shootings in Texas, New York, and Oklahoma.
However, because of the deal’s emphasis on mental health, there are both expectations and scepticism that it will lessen the number of gun suicides, particularly in rural Western areas with lax gun laws.
When it comes to gun suicide rates, Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, and Idaho consistently top the list of states. And even though studies show that tight gun control laws reduce gun violence, lawmakers in those states have long rejected limits that experts say would buck these protracted trends.
Like their equivalents in similar Republican-led states, conservatives in Congress oppose broad gun control measures like raising the age requirement for buying AR-15-style rifles to 21.
Age restrictions have been discussed after recent shootings involving those types of weapons at a hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma; a grocery store in Buffalo, New York; and an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
Alternatively, 10 Republican senators backed a plan that contains a clause to help pay for red flag laws, which let judges temporarily seize firearms from those deemed a threat to themselves or others. Such laws are present in 19 states, as well as in Washington, D.C. If all 48 Democratic senators and the two independents who frequently vote with the Democrats agree, that number would be sufficient to end any filibuster and pass the legislation.
Along with increased background checks for those under the age of 21, the agreement also includes a large investment in telemedicine and mental health resources. On Tuesday, a draught of the law was made public.
Advocates for gun control, however, claim that the agreement omits measures like obligatory waiting periods and safe-storage rules that have been proven to reduce suicides, which are the main reason why people die from gunshot wounds in the United States. Additionally, they advise against equating a high rate of gun suicide with a mental disorder.
People with mental illnesses are more likely to be victims of gun violence than perpetrators, according to Sarah Burd-Sharps, senior director of research for Everytown for Gun Safety, a group that advocates for stricter gun laws.
Rural residents are especially susceptible to suicides with firearms. According to research, solitary rural living is associated with “deaths of despair,” including drug overdoses, suicide attempts, and mental health problems. According to several research, living at higher elevations, which is a reality for many people in the Mountain West, makes it more likely that a person may have depressive symptoms or suicidal thoughts.
The state health department reports that Montana had the second-highest rate of firearm suicides nationwide in 2019. Compared to the national average of 61 per cent, suicide accounted for 86 per cent of all firearm deaths in Montana from 2010 to 2019. Numerous studies have found that tougher gun control laws reduce gun violence.
However, Montana has essentially no laws governing who can buy a gun, what sort of gun they can buy, when they can buy it, or how they can carry it in public.
The state no longer mandates that anyone seek a permit to carry a concealed handgun in public, and legislators in Helena passed a law in 2021 that prevents colleges from controlling gun ownership on campus. Due to a legal challenge, that law is currently on hold.
Wyoming, Alaska, and Idaho all have high rates of gun suicide with only a few regulations on where and how many guns someone can own.
Andrew Rose, a 24-year-old resident of Boise, Idaho, is aware personally of the deadly effects that lax gun restrictions may have. Rose’s brother committed suicide in 2013 using a rifle he had just bought.
Rose refers to his brother’s suicide as “a time of crisis,” one that would have passed if Idaho had a required waiting period in place that made him pause and reevaluate his plans. Rose thinks that the suicide rate, the deaths of his brother and others like him, and “the accessibility of guns have everything to do with it.”
Advocacy groups have concentrated on prevention via mental health care services because proposals to restrict gun access in these states are frequently defeated.
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Matt Kuntz, executive director of the Montana chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, acknowledged that it might be challenging to convince someone who is about to act violently and is suffering from a mental illness to seek treatment.
How do you make it as simple as you can in a state like Montana where there are so many individuals who appreciate their right to bear arms but also need assistance? he asked.
Kuntz stated that while the provisions of the U.S. Senate agreement are worth investigating, any effective federal gun control legislation must be based on state laws that have been put to the test. He stated that “states ought to be the laboratories of innovation.”
States with less gun suicide have generally tougher gun laws. Research indicates that for every 10 to 20 firearms removed under a red flag law, also known as an extreme risk statute, one suicide is avoided, depending on the state.
