Story highlights Study says number of gun-related suicides in Connecticut dropped with stricter gun laws

In contrast, suicide rate in Missouri rose after the state repealed its permit-to-purchase gun law

(CNN) State laws that restrict access to guns could reduce the rate of firearm-related suicide, according to new research.

Researchers examined suicide rates in Connecticut and Missouri, two states that changed their permit-to-purchase handgun laws in recent decades. Connecticut passed a law in 1995 that requires people to apply for a permit with local law enforcement and take eight hours of gun safety training before they can buy a firearm. In 2007 in Missouri, the state repealed a 1921 law that required people to apply with the local police to buy a gun.

The rate of gun-related suicide in Connecticut in the 10 years after its law passed was 15% lower than what researchers predict it would have been had the law not been passed. The researchers made this prediction based on the suicide rate between 1995 and 2005 in Rhode Island and North Dakota, which have similar demographics as Connecticut, and which also had similar suicide rates as Connecticut in the years before its law (1981-1994).

In contrast, the gun-related suicide rate in Missouri was 16% higher from 2007 to 2011 than researchers predict it would have been based on the rates in the comparable states of North Carolina and Nebraska.

An unintended benefit to gun control laws

Read More