Sexual Orientation Differences in Gun Ownership and Beliefs About Gun Safety Policy, General Social Survey 2010-2016

A Qualitative study on diverse perspectives and identities of firearm owners

OBJECTIVE

Research surrounding firearm ownership is often contextualised within the perspectives of older white men. We expand this description using the perceptions of a diverse group of firearm-owning stakeholders.

METHODS

We conducted semistructured interviews from October 2020 to May 2021 with Colorado/Washington State stakeholders representing (1) firearm ranges/retailers; (2) law enforcement agencies or (3) relevant state/national firearm organisations. Data were analysed using standard qualitative techniques and included 25 participants, representing varied sociocultural groups including racial and ethnic minorities, political minorities and sexual minorities.

RESULTS

Participants for this analysis were of different self-identified sociocultural groups including racial and ethnic minorities (African American, Hispanic and Asian), political minorities (liberal) and sexual minorities, defined as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT). Perspectives on firearm ownership included an idea of gun culture as a component of (1) personal identity, (2) an expression of full citizenship and (3) necessary for self-protection. A strong subtheme was the intersection of minority group and firearm owner identities, creating a need for divergent social communities because of ideas on traditional gun culture. These communities are a safe place for individuals belonging to minority groups to escape negative external and internal group associations with firearms.

CONCLUSION

Perspectives on firearms and firearm ownership in the secondary analysis were heterogeneous and related to personal experiences, external and internal group pressures that influence individual behaviour. Understanding the breadth of perspectives on firearm ownership is imperative to engaging individuals for risk reduction. This study adds to the literature by expanding an understanding of the motivation for firearm ownership among diverse communities.

Interpersonal and self-directed violence among sexual and gender minority populations: Moving research from prevalence to prevention

Purpose of review

This scoping review of reviews aimed to detail the breadth of violence research about sexual and gender minorities (SGM) in terms of the three generations of health disparities research (i.e., documenting, understanding, and reducing disparities).

Recent findings

Seventy-three reviews met inclusion criteria. Nearly 70% of the reviews for interpersonal violence and for self-directed violence were classified as first-generation studies. Critical third-generation studies were considerably scant (7% for interpersonal violence and 6% for self-directed violence).

Summary

Third-generation research to reduce or prevent violence against SGM populations must account for larger scale social environmental dynamics. Sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data collection has increased in population-based health surveys, but administrative datasets (e.g., health care, social services, coroner and medical examiner offices, law enforcement) must begin including SOGI to meet the needs of scaled public health interventions to curb violence among SGM communities.

"If I Had Access to a Gun, I Think I Would Have Used it Instead": Motivations for Method Choice Among Sexual and Gender Minority Adults Who Made a Recent Near-Fatal Suicide Attempt

Purpose: We examined motivations for suicide attempt method choice among sexual and/or gender minority (SGM) adults who attempted suicide in the previous 18 months. Methods: Individual semistructured interviews (N = 22) explored participants' motivations. Results: Five reasons influenced method choices: accessibility, perceived lethality, familiarity, not having access to a firearm, and concerns about pain and violence involved with other methods. Conclusion: Methods of suicide attempt are critical for informing SGM suicide prevention efforts. Future research should investigate whether and how lethal means restriction efforts are implemented within the contexts in which SGM people live and obtain mental health care (e.g., SGM community centers).

Sexual Orientation Differences in Lethal Methods Used in Suicide: Findings From the National Violent Death Reporting System

We examined sexual orientation and sex differences in seven methods of suicide among adult suicides reported in the United States National Violent Death Reporting System (2012-2015; N = 59,075). Overall, most sexual minorities (i.e., lesbians, gay men, bisexuals) identified in the dataset used hanging (38%) followed by firearm (30%) and drug or poison ingestion (20%). Sexual minorities were more likely than heterosexuals to be younger, female, and Black/African American. Multivariate sex-stratified analyses in the overall sample showed that strong sexual orientation differences in lethal methods existed among men but not among women. However, when we compared sex differences in lethal methods among sexual minorities only, we found that lesbian/bisexual women, as compared to gay/bisexual men, were more likely to use a firearm or drug or poison ingestion than hanging. Findings suggest that the higher rate of suicide mortality among sexual minorities is likely driven by hanging, a method of suicide that is not particularly amenable to lethal method restricted-access prevention approaches. Future research directions, clinical training recommendations, and intervention opportunities are discussed.

Suicidality Among Sexual Minority Adults: Gender, Age, and Race/Ethnicity Differences

INTRODUCTION

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals have elevated suicide risk, but there is little information available about how this risk may vary by gender, age, and race/ethnicity.

METHODS

This study examined past-year suicide thoughts, plans, and attempts among adult respondents to the 2015-2019 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (pooled N=191,954). Logistic regression was used to examine the differences between lesbian, gay, and bisexual and heterosexual adults for each outcome, once by gender and age category and once by gender and race/ethnicity category, while controlling for core sociodemographic characteristics. Race/ethnicity and age differences were also estimated within sexual identity groups.

RESULTS

Suicide thoughts, plans, and attempts were more common among lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults in almost every age and race/ethnicity category relative to that among corresponding heterosexual adults. In some age and race/ethnicity categories, bisexual women were more likely to report suicidal thoughts than lesbian/gay women. Each outcome decreased significantly across age groups among women of all sexual identity groups and heterosexual men; yet, this age effect was less pronounced among gay and bisexual men. Black women had significantly lower rates of suicidal thoughts and plans than White women in all sexual identity groups.

CONCLUSIONS

In light of consistently elevated rates of suicide thoughts and behaviors, lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults may expressly benefit from enhanced prevention, identification, and treatment of suicide risk. Additional research is needed to assess the associations between sexual identity and suicide mortality as well as to understand the heterogeneity in suicide risk among lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth, particularly by race/ethnicity.

Differences in Methods of Suicide Death Among Transgender and Nontransgender Patients in the Veterans Health Administration, 1999-2016

BACKGROUND

Limited research suggests that rates of suicide death among transgender people may be higher than their nontransgender peers.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to compare rates of suicide deaths by different means between transgender and nontransgender patients.

RESEARCH DESIGN

This secondary analysis used VHA administrative and electronic health record (EHR) data from October 1, 1999 through December 31, 2016.

SUBJECTS

Transgender patients (n=8981) were categorized as such based on a set of International Classification of Disease codes, and a comparison sample was selected by randomly choosing 3 nontransgender patients (n=26,924).

MEASURES AND ANALYSES

Cause and date of death data are from the National Death Index. Because of low frequencies amid different methods of suicide death, we combined categories into self-poisoning; hanging, strangulation and suffocation; discharge of firearms; and self-harm by all other and unspecified means. We conducted Cox regression analyses to model time-to-event for each method of suicide, adjusted for age, sex based on EHR, race, ethnicity, marital status, and whether patients had ever been diagnosed with depression.

RESULTS

Among transgender patients, 73 died by suicide (22 female EHR-based sex, 51 male EHR-based sex), and among nontransgender patients, 71 died by suicide (4 female EHR-based sex, 67 male EHR-based sex). In adjusted models, transgender patients had significantly greater hazards of death by self-poisoning and firearms than their nontransgender peers.

CONCLUSIONS

Differences in methods of suicide death suggest that firearms and self-poisoning may be specific areas of concern for transgender individuals experiencing suicidal crisis, which underscore needs for examining effective delivery of evidence-based care.

Sexual and Gender Minority Status and Firearms in the Household: Findings From the 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Surveys, California and Texas

OBJECTIVES

Although lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people have a higher prevalence of reporting a lifetime suicide attempt than non-LGBT people, suicide prevention research on access to lethal means (eg, firearms) among LGBT people is limited. Our study examined (1) the presence of firearms in the home and (2) among respondents with firearms in the home, the storage of firearms as stored unloaded, stored as loaded and locked, or stored as loaded and unlocked.

METHODS

We used data from the 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System surveys from California and Texas (N = 11 694), which were the only states to include items about both sexual orientation and gender identity and the status of firearms in the home. We used logistic regression analysis to assess the association of sexual orientation and gender identity with having firearms in the home while accounting for sociodemographic characteristics and survey state. All analyses were weighted to account for the complex sampling design.

RESULTS

Approximately 4.2% of the sample identified as lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB). About 18.2% of LGB people reported firearms in the home compared with 29.9% of their heterosexual peers. After adjusting for sex, age, race/ethnicity, educational attainment, and military veteran status, LGB respondents had significantly lower odds of reporting firearms in the home than their heterosexual peers (adjusted odds ratio = 0.47; 95% CI, 0.27-0.84). Among respondents with firearms in the home, firearm storage did not differ by sexual orientation.

CONCLUSIONS

Further research is needed to examine whether lower odds of firearms in the home are protective against suicide deaths among LGB populations.