Black and White Demographic Patterns of Gun Ownership and Suicide, 2021

Abstract

Objective We use 2021 data to compare the demographic patterns of adult White and Black gun ownership with their respective race-specific rates of firearm, non-firearm and total suicide, and the percentage of suicides using firearms. Methods Data on gun ownership came from a nationally representative sample of over 19,000 respondents to the 2021 National Firearms Survey. Both race-specific gun ownership and suicide rates were stratified by respondent demographics—sex (male, female), census region (Northeast, South, Midwest, West), urbanicity (metropolitan or non-metropolitan), and age (18-29, 30-44, 45-59, 60+). Results White adults reported higher rates of gun ownership than did Black adults (33% vs 24%) but a firearm was used in a similar percentage of suicides (56% vs 58%). The demographic patterns of gun ownership of White and Black adults were similar—those least likely to report owning firearms were females, those living in the Northeast, residents of metropolitan areas, and younger adults. But the suicide patterns were somewhat different—whereas suicide rates among White adults were highest among older Whites and among Whites in non-metropolitan areas, suicide rates among Black adults were highest among younger Blacks and similar in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas. Conclusions The self-reported levels and patterns of Black gun ownership cannot explain why such a high percentage of Black suicides are firearm suicides or why firearm and total suicide rates of Black adults fall so dramatically with age.