Welcome to Guns. N.I.E. Obituaries Opinion Outdoors Parenting People Personals Real Estate Religion Space Mall Spec. In what some are calling the first major study of its kind, new research has found no significant change in the nation's murder and suicide rates after the passage of the Brady Act, which regulates handgun sales. But the study, which appears in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association, also found that 6 percent fewer people age 55 and older used guns to kill themselves after the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act became law.
Seniors have the nation's highest suicide rate, nearly twice the overall national rate.
The National Rifle Association said the study shows the futility of waiting periods. This study affirms what most Americans already know is common sense. But Nina Butts, director of the Austin-based Texans Against Gun Violence, said she thinks the nationwide drop in crime rates in recent years is related to the Brady Act. Anyone who has experience with suicides or domestic violence knows that. The 1994 Brady Act required licensed dealers to perform background checks and observe a five-day waiting period before selling handguns.