Lethal Means Safety in the News

(If any of these links do not work, please let us know.)

General (or Multiple Means)

Michel Martin. One way to prevent suicides: limit access to guns. Morning Edition, NPR. April 28, 2023.

Aaron Bolton. ‘Safe storage’ helps keep suicidal gun owners from using their weapons. All Things Considered, NPR. September 5, 2023

Aaron Bolton. To help prevent suicides, temporary gun storage outside the home is encouraged. Morning Edition, NPR. September 5, 2023.

Russell B. Lemle & Jasper Craven. Touched by tragic loss. Guns & Ammo. 2023

John Diedrich. A record 530 people died by firearm suicide in Wisconsin last year. These gun stores hope to change that. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. August 23, 2023.

Sheryl Rich-Kern. Firearms and suicide: finding common ground.New Hampshire Business Review. December 1, 2022.

Markian Hawryluk. As Colorado reels from another school shooting, study finds 1 in 4 teens have quick access to guns. KFF Health News. March 27, 2023

Hannah Kreuger. This bridge needed lifesaving barriers. It took a grieving mother to get them. Boston Globe. May 17, 2023

Michael Stobbe. Gun injuries in US surged during pandemic, CDC study shows. AP News. March 30, 2023.

Roni Caryn Rabin. ‘How did we not know?’ Gun owners confront a suicide epidemic. New York Times. Nov 17, 2020.

Sally Spencer Thomas, The “how” of suicide: Why the means matter.Episode 66, Hope Illuminated Podcast Series. July 2020.

Leigh Patterson, How do you get gun owners to give up their guns during a crisis? Ask. NPR affiliate KUNC “Guns in America” Series. Sept 2020.

Charlotte Huff, Expanding services and tailoring outreach to prevent suicide. Health Affairs. January 2022.

Abraham Gutman, Firearm suicides outpace homicides: Experts say the Senate gun bill could help. Philadelphia Inquirer. June 23, 2022.

Brittany Paris, “Mt. Horeb gun shop owner works to prevent suicide.” Channel 3000. November 17, 2017.

Noelle Crombie, “Oregon Gun Store Owner Tried to Block Troubled Woman from Buying Gun.” The Oregonian. April 26, 2013.

Sabrina Tavernise, “To Reduce Suicide, New Focus Turns to Guns.” The New York Times. February 13, 2013. And see accompanying Editorial

Liz Szabo, “McCready’s death factors in gun debate; Most suicide attempts fatal when firearms are used.” USA TODAY.

Kate Bennion, “More Guns, More Suicides: Protecting a Population at Risk.” Deseret News, Salt Lake City UT. April 2, 2013.

Callie Crossley (Interview with Matt Miler and Catherine Barber), What We Don’t Talk about When We Talk about Guns, WGBH Radio, January 2013.

Leon Neyfakh, The Gun Toll We’re Ignoring: Suicide. Boston Globe, January 2013.

Gun Shops and Mental Health Advocates Partner to Prevent Suicides.” (Radio feature by Sheryl Rich-Kern) New Hampshire Public Radio. February 15, 2013.

Gun Shops Asked to Help Prevent Suicide.” (Radio feature by Charlotte Albright) Vermont Public Radio. December 31, 2013.

Ramer, H. NH responds to Rising Suicide Rate. Associated Press. September 12, 2011.

Trudeau, M. Media Should Tread Carefully In Covering Suicide. WBUR.org. November 30, 2009.

HealthDay News. Doctors Could Play a Part in Preventing Suicides. US News and World Report. September 3, 2008.

NPR. In Suicide Prevention, It’s Method, Not Madness. WBUR.org. July 8, 2008.

Anderson, Scott. The Urge to End it All. New York Times. July 6, 2008. An in-depth piece about the importance of means restriction in suicide prevention.

Bridge Barriers

Stratford, M. Preventing Suicide on Campus May Mean Fences and Nets as Well as Counseling. The Chronicle of Higher Education. March 25, 2012. This article discusses means restriction research and the debate over the installation of bridge barriers in Ithaca, NY.

Other coverage of Cornell bridge barrier debate:

– Doherty G. City Approves Suicide Net Installation under Bridges. The Ithacan. December 14, 2011.

– Kane E. Bridges, Barriers, Environments, and Lives. The Cornell Daily Sun. April 1, 2011.

– Anonymous. The Necessity of Barriers. The Cornell Daily Sun. March 3, 2011.

– Stein J. Study Questions Efficacy of Permanent Bridge Barriers. The Cornell Daily Sun. February 24, 2011.

Trudeau, M. Media Should Tread Carefully In Covering Suicide. WBUR.org. November 30, 2009.

Cabanatuan M. Bridge directors vote for net to deter suicides. San Francisco Chronicle. October 11, 2008. The Board of Directors voted 14-to-1 to install the stainless-steel net system, which would be placed 20 feet below the deck, and would collapse around anyone who jumped into it, making it difficult, if not impossible, for anyone to leap to their death.

Vick K. The Golden Gate: A Bridge Too Deadly? Washington Post. March 3, 2008. After longtime resistance, Bay Area may follow other efforts to prevent suicides at landmarks.

Friend T. Jumpers: The fatal grandeur of the Golden Gate Bridge. The New Yorker. October 13, 2003. On the bridge, Baldwin counted to ten and stayed frozen. He counted to ten again, then vaulted over. “I still see my hands coming off the railing,” he said. As he crossed the chord in flight, Baldwin recalls, “I instantly realized that everything in my life that I’d thought was unfixable was totally fixable—except for having just jumped.”