New Mexico is among U.S. states with the highest rate of gun suicides by those 70 and older, and more common in rural areas where rates of gun ownership are higher.
Researchers said the issue has remained out of the spotlight even as health professionals sound alarms. The Gun Violence Data Hub looked at 15 years of statistics, from 2009 to 2023.
Aaron Mendelson, data journalist with the publication The Trace and the Gun Violence Data Hub, said while they could not pinpoint a specific reason behind the trend, geography plays a role.
"It's quite often in Western states, places like Idaho, rural Colorado, Montana, New Mexico," Mendelson reported. "And there is kind-of the frontier mentality, 'pick yourself up by your bootstraps, take on everything by yourself.' Maybe that serves people when they're younger but that can be a really challenging mentality to take later in life."
Mendelson noted study data, sourced from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggested factors contributing to suicide ideation in older adults included severe physical illness, pain, financial pressures, isolation, the death of a spouse, a lack of mental health care and the availability of firearms. If you are in crisis or know someone who is, call or text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.
Miranda Viscoli, co-president of New Mexicans Against Gun Violence, was instrumental in getting the state's 'Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order' law passed in 2020. The statute allows a court to temporarily restrict firearms from someone deemed an extreme risk to themselves or others. She pointed out many people in rural communities know who is suffering from depression and could be considering suicide.
"Which is why we do gun buybacks throughout New Mexico," Viscoli emphasized. "Because what we're seeing more and more are people coming in and saying, 'My husband, it's not safe for him to have a firearm anymore.' And, we're an aging population, New Mexico has a lot of people in the aging population."
In the study, Western states accounted for seven of the top 10 states with the highest suicide rates by firearm for people over age 70. Wyoming had the highest rate, while New Mexico ranked fifth among the 50 states. Researchers found white men were three times more likely to end their lives using a gun compared to Black and Latino men of the same age.