In a new study to be presented this week, most children and teens who died by firearm suicide used a gun owned by a parent.

The study was conducted by Dr. Sofia Chaudhary of Emory University and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data from nine states from 2018 to 2021. She analyzed 1,021 youth firearm suicides involving people ages 10 to 24.

She found that guns used by 10- to 17-year-olds were 10 times more likely to belong to a parent than guns used by 20- to 24-year-olds. Among young adults ages 18 to 24, 69% used their own firearm to die by suicide, while 14% used a parent’s firearm.

Of the firearms that came from a parent, 67% were stored unlocked and 78% were loaded. Only 9% were considered both locked and unloaded.

Chaudhary is sc

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