The impact of minimum age and child access prevention laws on firearm-related youth suicides and unintentional deaths

• The purpose of the present study is to determine the effects of child access prevention (CAP) laws and minimum age laws on state-level youth firearm-related suicide rates and unintentional death rates.
• This is one of the few studies that focuses on youth death rates and looks at laws that have the most impact on youth suicides and unintentional deaths.
• Although state laws appear mixed in their effects on youth deaths by firearms, federal minimum age possession laws appear to be effective in reducing both suicides and unintentional deaths among youths.

The aim of the present study is to quantify the association between child access prevention (CAP) and minimum age laws and state-level youth firearm-related suicide and unintentional death rates. This paper differs from prior research in several ways. First, this is one of the few studies to focus exclusively on youth death rates. Second, this study looks at those laws with the most impact on youth suicides and unintentional deaths. Finally, this study uses one of the largest and most recent data sets of any study on this topic. In order to estimate the determinants of youth firearm deaths, a fixed effects regression model, controlling for both state-level and year-specific effects, is used. Results indicate that state-level minimum age laws have no significant effects on either youth suicides or unintentional deaths and that state-level CAP laws have no significant effects on unintentional deaths. States with CAP laws, however, have lower rates of youth suicide, and, after the enactment of the Federal minimum age requirement, both youth suicide and unintentional death rates fell. Given the mixed results regarding state-level juvenile firearm laws, national restrictions on juvenile handgun possession may be more effective in reducing both youth suicides and unintentional deaths than state-level regulations.