Yet at every opportunity the National Rifle Association uses the fear of crime to promote the need for ordinary citizens to keep guns in their home for self-protection. Because handguns and other firearms are so easily accessible to many children, adolescents and other family members in their homes, the risks of gun violence in the home increase dramatically. The risk of homicide in the home is three times greater in households with guns. The risk of suicide is five times greater in households with guns. What's more, tragic stories of accidental or unintentional shootings from the careless storage of guns at home are all too common.
Guns are also the weapon of choice for troubled individuals who commit suicide.
In 1996, firearms were used in 18,166 suicide deaths in America. Among young people, youths aged 10-19 committed suicide with a gun every six hours. That's over 1,300 young people in a single year. A gun in the home also increases the likelihood of an unintentional shooting, particularly among children. Unintentional shootings commonly occur when children find an adult's loaded handgun in a drawer or closet, and while playing with it shoot themselves, a sibling or a friend.