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Study Finds Large Percentage of Mentally Ill Teens Have Easy Access to Guns

*The following is excerpted from an online article from Inquisitr.

A new study found that it’s relatively easy for teens with histories of mental illness or suicidal acts to find guns in their homes.

The study found that 41 percent of teens in a home with a gun had easy access to the weapon. It also found that 41 percent of teens either suffer from mental health problems, have tried to kill themselves, or have thought about it.

The study appeared in JAMA Psychiatry and the findings were based on based their findings on data collected from 10,123 thirteen- to 18-year-olds between 2001 and 2004.

Researchers found that a third of the teen respondents lived in a home with a firearm, and that older, male, and white teens reported the easiest access. Previous studies have found that the chances of a teen suicide in a home that doesn’t have a firearm is exponentially less than those that do.

Dr. Joseph Simonetti, of the University of Washington School of Medicine’s Harborview Medical Center, who led the study cautioned readers to not come to quick conclusions as a result of the findings, saying that more data needs to be collected and new solutions need to be examined.

Source: Inquisitr
http://www.inquisitr.com/1727987/new-study-says-large-percentage-of-mentally-ill-teens-have-easy-access-to-guns/