Counseling on Gun Safety Could Cut Suicide Rate in Military: Study

TUESDAY, Dec. 29, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- When U.S. military personnel get gun locks and counseling on safe storage of their weapons, they store those guns safely, and that could be key to lowering the military suicide rate, researchers report.

"Suicide mortality is higher in homes with a firearm and the majority of military personnel do not store their firearms safely or report suicidal thoughts," said study co-author Michael Anestis, executive director of the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

The study included 232 firearm-owning members of the Mississippi National Guard. Researchers divided them into groups, some of whom received only lethal means counseling or health and stress counseling, and some of whom received counseling plus cable gun locks.