Guns abound, guns all around, in good times and in bad

SOURCE : Violence Policy Center Report Regarding Murder/Suicide

Excerpts from

American Roulette
Murder-Suicide in the United States
May 2006

...Police may have higher murder-suicide rates Several of the murder-suicide incidents in this study involved either current or former law enforcement officers... It has been estimated that twice as many police officers commit suicide than are killed in the line of duty. Studies that compare suicide rates show that law enforcement suicide rates exceed rates for both the general population and age/gender matched groups. No studies deal specifically with police officers involved in murder-suicide, but

one reason for the higher rates cited above for law enforcement may be the easy accessibility to firearms.

Experts note that the nature of police work — control over and responsibility for others — along with easy access to firearms probably plays a role in their heightened risk for murder-suicide...

...The most common catalytic component in murder-suicide is the use of a firearm. Firearms allow shooters to act on impulse.
Every major murder-suicide study ever conducted has shown that a firearm — with its unmatched combination of lethality and availability is the weapon most often used to murder the victims, with the offenders then turning the gun on themselves...

The presence of a gun allows the offender to quickly and easily kill a greater number of victims. If there had not been easy access to a firearm, these deaths may simply have been injuries, or not have occurred at all.

Efforts should be made to restrict access to firearms where there is an increased risk of murder-suicide, for example where an individual has a history of domestic violence

and/or has threatened suicide...