An analysis of CDC mortality data from 2009 to 2023 found that suicide rates for Americans 70 and older were higher than any other age group. These rates have been on the rise and were particularly high regarding gun suicide among older men, claiming more lives than car crashes.  

From 2018 to 2023, American men 65 and older died from gun suicide at a rate 3.25 times greater than they did from motor vehicle accidents. Including other methods of suicide, the overall suicide mortality rate was more than five times greater.

Gun suicide rates for older Americans were especially high both in Oklahoma, which had the 10th-highest rate among U.S. states, and in rural areas. 

Oklahoma has among the highest rates of gun suicide across all ages and overall suicide. 

No single factor was identified as driving suicides among older Americans, though gun accessibility affects suicide rates.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Oklahoma Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims.

Sources

• Oklahoma Watch Isolation, Illness and Guns: Why More Older Oklahomans Are Dying by Suicide
• CDC CDC 2018 – 2023 Causes of Death Men 65+
• Oklahoma Watch Is Oklahoma’s suicide rate ranked among the top 10 states?
• Oklahoma Watch Do states with fewer gun laws and more guns have higher suicide rates?

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