This study found a positive association between purchasing a handgun and death from gun suicide, gun homicide, and death from accidental gun injuries. Thos purchasing a handgun made up less than 1% of the study population, but accounted for 2.4% of gun homicides, 14.2% of gun suicides, and 16.7% of accidental gun deaths. Comment: the meaning of this study is ambiguous. It is not surprising that those who purchase guns are more likely to die from suicide due to a gunshot wound. But is their overall suicide rate higher or lower? It is not surprising that people at risk for being killed by homicide (most of which are from guns) would buy a gun to try to protect themselves. The problem with this study was that confounding factors were not accounted for. [ Inj Prev 2003;9:48-52 ]