The total number of suicides in Iowa in 2003, according to the Department of Public Health, was three hundred fifty, a twelve percent increase over the three hundred twelve who died by suicide in 2002, and up from three hundred eight in 2001. Guns are the most frequently used lethal means. One hundred seventy-six of the three hundred fifty suicide victims, or one more than half, used guns.

Two hundred ninety-one males died by suicide in Iowa in 2003, an increase of seventeen percent from 2002. Fifty-nine females died by suicide in 2003, a decrease of eight percent from 2002. Eighty-three percent of the completed suicides in 2003 were by men, slightly higher than in recent years.

The three age groups with the largest number of suicide deaths among men were those aged 40-44, 50-54, and 20-24. There were thirty-nine 40-44 year old men, seventeen of whom used guns, thirty-four 50-54 year old men, of whom eighteen used guns, and thirty-one 20-24 year old men, of whom sixteen used guns. Among teens 15-19, there were twenty suicides, sixteen males and four females. Of the sixteen males, eight used guns. None of the females used a gun.

Overall, fifty-five percent of the men who died by suicide used guns. Of men who used guns, fifty-six percent of one hundred thirty-two used long guns. The percentage in the 10-34 year age range was higher, sixty-five percent, as twenty-four of thirty-seven used long guns. The number of suicides by gun increased thirteen percent from one hundred fifty-six in 2002 to one hundred seventy-six in 2003. The 2002 number had been just two more than the five year average from 1998-2002.

The greatest number of female suicides in 2003 was in the 50-54 year old group. Twelve of the fifty-nine, or nearly twenty percent, were in this age range. Six used guns, four handguns one long gun and one unknown. Of the sixty-four women who took their lives in 2002, twelve were in this age range, but only one used a gun. More women in this age group than in any other have died by suicide these past two years in Iowa, a distinct change from previous years when a greater number of women in their forties than in any other age group died by suicide.

Iowans are doing something in regard to suicide prevention. Iowans for the Prevention of Gun Violence, which has been conducting research on suicide in Iowa since 1999, provided leadership in 2002 to create a statewide Suicide Prevention Strategy Steering Committee. The Committee participated in 2003 in a Suicide Prevention Resource Council ten-state regional meeting in Denver, and organized an American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Suicide Survivor conference in Iowa City last year. This year two survivor conferences are scheduled, one in Des Moines at Des Moines University and one in Cedar Rapids at Kirkwood Community College, both on November 20.

The Iowa Department of Public Health has secured a grant to do the groundwork for an Office of Youth Violence Prevention, which will address problems of suicide and bullying.

The Iowa Department of Education is supporting initiatives to screen for depression and to counter bullying.

The Iowa Legislative Bureau drafted House and Senate resolutions ( in 2003 calling for placing a high priority on suicide prevention, but it was not brought up for a vote. The Suicide Prevention Strategy Steering Committee in May 2004 voted to approve seeking $250,000 in the 2005 legislative year to establish an Office of Suicide Prevention in the Department of Public Health.