It is time to unfuck America.

[Lizzie Poppet]

148. Possibly...but the previous spike also includes a recession that hasn't truly ended for most.

I'm not sure if it's possible to properly reduce for variables in this case. So many quantification-resistant psychological factors... I think that if it were possible to factor out either influence and examine only a single factor, there would still be an increase, just a smaller one.

My personal take on this point is that easier access to firearms increases suicide rates somewhat. A lot of the people who use them for suicide would find another method if a gun was not available. Guns are popular with determined suicides because they are viewed (correctly) as being one of the most efficient and certain methods available. "Cry for help" suicides are not carried out with firearms. However, a person on the cusp of the decision might well elect not to go through with it if they had to use a less-certain, more painful or terrifying method.

I don't think it's unreasonable to assert that easier access to guns increases the suicide rate here in the US, although I also think the increase is likely a fairly modest one.