A new study found that laws temporarily restricting access to firearms for individuals at high risk of harming themselves or others reduced firearm suicides without a shift to other suicide methods, according to researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and UC Berkeley School of Public Health.
Dr. Yunyu Xiao
In 2023, more than half of all suicide deaths in the United States involved firearms. To address this crisis, “red flag” laws—also called Extreme Risk Protection Orders or ERPOs—were designed to reduce these deaths by authorizing temporary firearm removal from high-risk individuals. ERPO laws have been implemented in 21 states and the District of Columbia as of February 2025.
The study, published Jan. 30 in JAMA Health Forum, set out to assess the laws’ effectiveness in preventing suicides. The researchers analyzed data from four states (Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico and Rhode Island) that passed ERPO laws and eight that did not. They concluded that the laws reduced firearm suicides by nearly four incidents per 100,000 population. That translated to an estimated 675 suicides prevented across the four states between the year the laws were passed and the following year. Non-firearm suicide rates did not change. “We found no evidence of individuals switching to other methods of suicide once firearms were restricted,” said first author Dr. Timothy Brown, research professor of health policy and management at UC Berkeley School of Public Health.
"For years, policymakers have debated whether removing firearms from individuals in crisis helps prevent suicide deaths. Our findings provide rigorous evidence that ERPO laws are working as intended,” said co-author Dr. Yunyu Xiao, assistant professor of population health sciences at Weill Cornell Medicine. “Less than half of our states in the U.S. currently have these protections, so there is significant opportunity for other states to adopt similar legislation and save lives.”
"Resistance often comes from gun rights organizations and conservative lawmakers, who argue that such measures threaten Second Amendment rights," said co-author Dr. Mark S. Kaplan, professor emeritus of social welfare at UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. "It’s time to prioritize community safety by adopting these vital protections."
This story is adapted from the original posted by UC Berkeley School of Public Health.
