Gun control measures are expensive and socio-politically challenging. Psychologists can use the Golden Gate Bridge safety net as a more attainable model of suicide prevention.
Efforts to reduce access to guns are costly and at odds with the strong gun culture in the U.S.The recent installment of the Golden Gate Bridge safety net is a useful model.by gun is on the rise in the United States; rates of suicide by gun set national records in both 2021 and 2022 . While guns are used in fewer than 10 percent of suicide attempts , guns are an extremely lethal method, with 90 percent of suicide attempts by gun resulting in death .
This famous example demonstrates that removing access to lethal means can significantly reduce suicide rates. So, why can’t we do the same with guns? Even if such a program were financially viable, a much larger issue quickly becomes apparent. The U.S. is a nation in which many individuals strongly identify with gun culture. This can be seen on both a macro- and micro-level scale.
The U.S. is, and has always been, a nation of individuals with diverse identities and ideologies. As we have seen across U.S. history, this diversity can make it difficult to enact and enforce policies on which large swaths of people hold different and sometimes incompatible views.Rather than focusing on removing widespread access to guns, Americans may find more common ground by increasing gun safety.
We can learn from the Golden Gate safety net as we develop culturally competent methods that similarly balance our clients’ values with their safety. We will expand on how to use a cultural competency framework with gun safety in a follow-up article.Cai, Z., Junus, A., Chang, Q., & Yip, P.S.F. . The lethality of suicide methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 300: 121-129.
McClure, G. M. G. . Changes in suicide in England and Wales, 1960–1997. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 176, 64-67.
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