Ontario, Oct. 19 -- : A new study of gun injuries and deaths in Ontario found that 68% of firearm-related deaths were from self-harm, and they most often occurred in older men living in rural regions, pointing to the need for targeted prevention efforts.

The study is published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

There were 2009 injuries secondary to self-harm over the study period, and "this is equivalent to a firearm-related injury ... every 3 days; 92% of these injuries were fatal," writes Dr David Gomez, a trauma surgeon at St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, an adjunct staff scientist at ICES, and assistant professor at the University of Toronto, with coauthors.

In Canada, nonfatal firearm-related injuries are l...