I commend the Globe’s editorial highlighting recent research correlating higher rates of gun ownership with higher rates of women murdered by people they know (“Guns don’t make women safer,’’ Feb. 11). The Globe also correctly noted that “in states where a greater proportion of the public owns guns, more firearm-related homicides are committed.’’ Missing from the discussion, however, is the role of gun possession as a major risk factor for suicide.

In fact, about two-thirds of gun-related deaths in the United States are suicides, and rates have been rising since 2006. When this point is raised with opponents of sensible firearms regulations, the response is usually something like, “If someone wants to kill himself, he’ll find a way, with or without a gun.’’ But this hypothesis has not been validated by the existing data.

For example, after Australia greatly tightened its firearms laws in 1996, there was a decline not only in annual total gun deaths and firearms suicides, but also in nonfirearms suicides. That is, there was no evidence for a so-called substitution effect, either for suicides or homicides.

In short, we can affirm the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms without buying into the myth that guns keep people safe. With rare exceptions, precisely the opposite is true.

Dr. Ronald Pies

Boston

The writer is a psychiatrist and medical ethicist.