Even though the study couldn't explain why there were these differences in gun deaths by race and states, the researchers offered some ideas.
The firearm suicides appeared to occur at the highest rates in rural settings while the homicides occurred at the highest rates in urban settings, the researchers noted.
This urban-rural divide could suggest that social and geographic isolation, having access to lethal mechanisms and stresses related to agricultural work play a role in high suicide rates among white men in rural areas. Higher levels of income inequality and crowding, among other factors, in metropolitan areas could play a role in high homicide rates among black men in urban areas, the researchers wrote in the study.
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"The large difference in homicide and suicide rates across states suggest that rates of homicide and suicide can be reduced by focusing on states with very high rates and learning from the states with the lowest rates. So there's more work to be done," Riddell said.