Aging Americans With Dementia Are Responsible For At Least 15 Homicides And 95+ Suicides Since 2012

Kaiser Health News partnered with the PBS Newshour on this 4-month investigation, which looks at America's wave of gun violence through a lens focused on gun-toting senior citizens with diagnosed dementia and memory impairments. 

As America copes with an epidemic of gun violence that kills 96 people each day, there has been vigorous debate about how to prevent people with mental illness from acquiring weapons. But a little-known problem is what to do about the vast cache of firearms in the homes of aging Americans with impaired or declining mental faculties.

The story raises a number of questions about the intersection of mental health and weapons in the U.S., and reports that nine percent of America's seniors have been diagnosed with dementia. At the same time, 45 percent of those aged 65 and up keep guns in their homes.

The investigation found 100 cases where those suffering from dementia killed or injured themselves or others with guns. One San Diego-based nonprofit group, Alzheimer’s San Diego, estimated 25-30 percent of the Alzheimer’s patients they served kept guns in their homes.

Part of the reporter's work was extrapolating the potential for future harm. By 2050, they predict, between 8-12 million people with dementia may live in homes with guns.