Third of gun injuries in NSW self-harm

The research, published in the Medical Journal of Australia on Monday, determined there were 2390 firearm-related injuries between 2002 and 2016.

Almost 800 of those were considered self-harm, with men accounting for more than 95 per cent.

"Rates of self-harm with firearms are higher for older people, men, and residents in outer regional and rural/remote areas," the research, led by University of Sydney professor Joel Negin, concluded.

"The rate of self-harm injuries with firearms was highest for people aged 60 years or more (41.5 per 100,000 people).

"Local rates of intentional self-harm injuries caused by firearms were strongly correlated with those of licensed gun owners."

The paper noted few studies have examined firearm-related risk factors for suicide but work in the area was essential to reduce the number of deaths.

Almost nine out of 10 intentional firearm-related self-harm injuries were fatal, the study determined.

According to Lifeline, nine Australians die by suicide per day and about three-quarters are men.

Almost 36 per cent of the overall gun-related injuries were caused by assault, 21 per cent were due to accidents, while about 10 per cent were "undetermined".

Men were more than 13 times more likely than women to be harmed.

From 2002-16, the overall firearm-related injury rate declined from 3.4 to 1.8 per 100,000 people, primarily because of a drop in incidents caused by assault or accidental events.

Australia's gun laws were substantially tightened in 1996 following the Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania in which 35 people were killed.

In the year following, almost 660,000 semi-automatic rifles and shotguns were purchased and destroyed as part of a government buy-back scheme.

The study noted more than 14,000 firearm homicides were recorded in the US in 2018.

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Australian Associated Press