White men in small towns are most at risk.
When we talk about gun violence in the United States, we usually look at homicides, urban crime and mass shootings. But two-thirds of gun deaths in America don’t involve bad guys with guns. They’re caused by suicide, by people deliberately harming themselves. Even many pro-gun activists say that has to change.
One woman's story, a nation at risk
When Dorothy Paugh was nine years old, her father bought a pistol and started talking about ending his life. Her mother was terrified but didn’t know what to do. "She called our priest and called his best friend. They came and talked to him and they didn’t ask to take his gun away," Paugh said.
Her father was 51 years old. A few days later, she saw him alive for the last time.
"One morning, it was a hot August day, he said take the kids to the pool. There were five of us and she piled us in the station wagon. We had a great time until they announced over the loudspeaker that the police were there to take us to the hospital."
Six years ago, in 2012, it happened again. Paugh’s son Peter was 25. He bought a pistol, walked to a nearby park and shot himself. "It was so shattering, so catastrophic," she recalled.
"He made a 911 call to the police because he said he didn’t want any children playing in the woods or the park to come upon the gun and his body."
More than 20,000 gun-suicides in America every year
We’re hearing Dorothy Paugh’s story because this happens a lot. Using the latest data, the Centers for
