Okay this just pisses me off. First they say the Brady bill has such a huge loop hole, but not to discount it because less elderly can commit sucide. Please who at 55 would just be buying their first gun?
And isn't it possible since it is now the baby boomer generation in that range, there living condition is better and they don't want to kill themselves anymore?
And if the waiting period was over in 1998, why hasn't it gone up again already.
Brady Act Cuts Elderly Suicide Rate
Has little effect on homicide rate, though
By Edward Edelson
HealthSCOUT Reporter
TUESDAY, Aug. 1 (HealthSCOUT) -- The Brady Act, intended to control gun sales, has not
reduced the homicide rate in the United States because of a loophole that makes it possible to
buy guns without background checks or a waiting period, researchers say.
But the act has affected the death rate in a surprising way: It has reduced the firearm suicide
rate among older people, says a study reported in the Aug. 2 Journal of the American Medical
Association.
"I think it would be a big mistake to conclude from this study that the Brady Act is ineffective.
Given that older people in the United States have one of the highest suicide rates in the world,
the act has saved lives by reducing the number of suicides," says study co-author Jens Ludwig,
assistant professor of public health at Georgetown University.
The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act is named for James Brady, the presidential press
assistant who was wounded in the assassination attempt of Ronald Reagan in 1981. The act
went into effect in 1994, requiring background checks and a waiting period for anyone buying a
gun from federally licensed gun dealers.
Ludwig and Philip J. Cook of Duke University analyzed data from the National Center for Health
Statistics on homicide and suicide rates from 1985 through 1997. They compared the numbers
from the 18 states that already met the Brady Law's requirements with those from 32 other
states where the new controls went into effect.
"Our analyses provide no evidence that implementation of the Brady Act was associated with a
reduction in homicide rates," the researchers write.
The loophole is that the law's provisions cover only federally licensed gun dealers, says Ludwig.
Sales continue in unregulated market
"From 30 to 40 percent of gun sales are not done by those dealers. The rest are done at gun
shows and other places, in a secondary gun market that is almost completely unregulated by
current laws," he says.
"The lesson I take away is the importance of extending the Brady Act regulations to secondary
gun sales," Ludwig says.
The effect of tighter gun controls on suicide rates was confined to people aged 55 and over,
the researchers found. The firearm suicide rate was lowered by 1 per 100,000 people in that
age group, the study found. The Brady Act apparently made it more difficult for older people
contemplating suicide to buy guns, though some found a way around that difficulty, the
researchers say.
"We find some signs of an offsetting increase in nongun suicides in those aged 55 and older,
which makes the reduction in the total suicide rate smaller than the reduction in gun suicides,"
say the researchers.
The effect of the law on gun suicides could change, because the requirement for a waiting
period expired at the end of 1998, the authors say. "The shift away from waiting periods could
increase the firearm suicide rate (and potentially the overall suicide rate) among older U.S.
citizens," they say.
Ludwig says, "Most people don't realize that more people die each year from gun suicides than
gun homicides."
The study "carries an important message for both sides of the debate" on gun control, says
Richard Rosenfeld, professor of criminology at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and author of
an accompanying editorial.
Those in favor of more controls have focused almost entirely on the primary market -- licensed
gun dealers -- while those against "are equally obsessed with the secondary market,"
purchases from other sources, he says.
"What this article is suggesting is a relationship between the primary and secondary markets
that both forces have not appreciated," and that requires more research to asses, Rosenfeld
says.
"It looks like it is the waiting period that suppresses suicide. A lot of states have phased out
the waiting period, but this is new evidence that a cooling-off period would work" to reduce
suicides, Rosenfeld says.
What To Do
The national suicide rate has dropped in recent years to about 11 per 100,000 people.
However, the rate among the elderly has gone up steadily in recent years. For those 55 and
older, it is about double the normal rate, according to government statistics. And for the oldest
old -- people 85 and older, beset by illness, depression and loss of companionship -- the rate
skyrockets to 65 per 100,000 people.
The U.S. Surgeon General's office issued a call to action last year about suicide, and this Web
page includes more on the problem of suicide among the elderly. Also, the National Institute of
Mental Health has some facts about the problem.
For more on the Brady Law? go to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
And isn't it possible since it is now the baby boomer generation in that range, there living condition is better and they don't want to kill themselves anymore?
And if the waiting period was over in 1998, why hasn't it gone up again already.
Brady Act Cuts Elderly Suicide Rate
Has little effect on homicide rate, though
By Edward Edelson
HealthSCOUT Reporter
TUESDAY, Aug. 1 (HealthSCOUT) -- The Brady Act, intended to control gun sales, has not
reduced the homicide rate in the United States because of a loophole that makes it possible to
buy guns without background checks or a waiting period, researchers say.
But the act has affected the death rate in a surprising way: It has reduced the firearm suicide
rate among older people, says a study reported in the Aug. 2 Journal of the American Medical
Association.
"I think it would be a big mistake to conclude from this study that the Brady Act is ineffective.
Given that older people in the United States have one of the highest suicide rates in the world,
the act has saved lives by reducing the number of suicides," says study co-author Jens Ludwig,
assistant professor of public health at Georgetown University.
The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act is named for James Brady, the presidential press
assistant who was wounded in the assassination attempt of Ronald Reagan in 1981. The act
went into effect in 1994, requiring background checks and a waiting period for anyone buying a
gun from federally licensed gun dealers.
Ludwig and Philip J. Cook of Duke University analyzed data from the National Center for Health
Statistics on homicide and suicide rates from 1985 through 1997. They compared the numbers
from the 18 states that already met the Brady Law's requirements with those from 32 other
states where the new controls went into effect.
"Our analyses provide no evidence that implementation of the Brady Act was associated with a
reduction in homicide rates," the researchers write.
The loophole is that the law's provisions cover only federally licensed gun dealers, says Ludwig.
Sales continue in unregulated market
"From 30 to 40 percent of gun sales are not done by those dealers. The rest are done at gun
shows and other places, in a secondary gun market that is almost completely unregulated by
current laws," he says.
"The lesson I take away is the importance of extending the Brady Act regulations to secondary
gun sales," Ludwig says.
The effect of tighter gun controls on suicide rates was confined to people aged 55 and over,
the researchers found. The firearm suicide rate was lowered by 1 per 100,000 people in that
age group, the study found. The Brady Act apparently made it more difficult for older people
contemplating suicide to buy guns, though some found a way around that difficulty, the
researchers say.
"We find some signs of an offsetting increase in nongun suicides in those aged 55 and older,
which makes the reduction in the total suicide rate smaller than the reduction in gun suicides,"
say the researchers.
The effect of the law on gun suicides could change, because the requirement for a waiting
period expired at the end of 1998, the authors say. "The shift away from waiting periods could
increase the firearm suicide rate (and potentially the overall suicide rate) among older U.S.
citizens," they say.
Ludwig says, "Most people don't realize that more people die each year from gun suicides than
gun homicides."
The study "carries an important message for both sides of the debate" on gun control, says
Richard Rosenfeld, professor of criminology at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and author of
an accompanying editorial.
Those in favor of more controls have focused almost entirely on the primary market -- licensed
gun dealers -- while those against "are equally obsessed with the secondary market,"
purchases from other sources, he says.
"What this article is suggesting is a relationship between the primary and secondary markets
that both forces have not appreciated," and that requires more research to asses, Rosenfeld
says.
"It looks like it is the waiting period that suppresses suicide. A lot of states have phased out
the waiting period, but this is new evidence that a cooling-off period would work" to reduce
suicides, Rosenfeld says.
What To Do
The national suicide rate has dropped in recent years to about 11 per 100,000 people.
However, the rate among the elderly has gone up steadily in recent years. For those 55 and
older, it is about double the normal rate, according to government statistics. And for the oldest
old -- people 85 and older, beset by illness, depression and loss of companionship -- the rate
skyrockets to 65 per 100,000 people.
The U.S. Surgeon General's office issued a call to action last year about suicide, and this Web
page includes more on the problem of suicide among the elderly. Also, the National Institute of
Mental Health has some facts about the problem.
For more on the Brady Law? go to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
