The laws surrounding guns are highly debated in Colorado and the U.S. and startling new data is sure to add more fuel to an already powerful fire.

NYU Langone Health recently released a new report illustrating a rise in firearm suicides here in Colorado and across the country.

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Vetting the Firearm Suicides Data

New data was collected by NYU Langone Health by collaborating with Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund. Together the two companies analyzed numbers from two new measures (firearm suicide and homicide rates) using the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS), and the death records system of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

"This is the largest release of city-level data on gun suicide and homicide rates from a trusted national data source," says Marc N. Gourevitch, MD, MPH, the Muriel G. and George W. Singer Professor of Population Health and chair of the Department of Population Health at NYU Langone, as well as the principal architect of the City Health Dashboard.

We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with Everytown and make this data publicly accessible so that stakeholders in more cities across the country have the information they need to reduce gun deaths and bolster community safety.

Previously city-level firearm suicide data was only found from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

A Colorado City Has One of the Highest Rates of Gun Suicides

The shocking new data reveals that 4 out of every 10 firearm deaths in the country are actually by suicide. From 2014 to 2020 more than 750 U.S. cities were analyzed and the results show an 11% increase in gun suicides from 2014.

"To address gun violence in our cities, we need to acknowledge the growing—and too often unspoken—role that gun suicide plays in the human toll of this epidemic," said Meg O'Toole, Deputy Director of Research at Everytown for Gun Safety.

This analysis unveils the scope of people who die by suicide and highlights the need to broaden the concept of city gun violence to recognize, prevent, and solve this pressing public health concern.

5 cities were listed as having the highest rates of gun suicide in the country, with one being right here in Colorado.

Here is the list:

  • Bradenton, Florida
  • Cheyenne, Wyoming
  • Lake Havasu City, Arizona
  • Sarasota, Florida
  • Grand Junction, Colorado
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Males in Grand Junction made up 40.3 firearm suicides per 100,000 population, compared to the average of 13.3 across other listed Dashboard cities.

The data also states that firearm suicides among the White population in Grand Junction, Colorado (19.7) are actually higher than that of the average rate of firearm suicides for the White population (9.9) across other listed Dashboard cities.

With this new data, it is only a matter of time until the city of Grand Junction and the Centennial State make a statement on the rising rate of suicides by firearm.

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