▁limitation ▁or ▁reg ulation ▁of ▁the ▁private ▁ownership ▁of ▁fire ar ms , ▁suic ide ▁patterns ▁do ▁not ▁const itute ▁one ▁of ▁them " ▁Hard ing ▁quoted ▁international ▁analysis ▁by ▁Newton ▁and ▁Z im ring ▁of ▁twenty ▁developed ▁countries ▁which ▁concluded ▁at ▁page ▁ 3 6 ▁of ▁their ▁report ; ▁“ c ult ural ▁factors ▁appear ▁to ▁affect ▁suic ide ▁rates ▁far ▁more ▁than ▁the ▁avail ability ▁and ▁use ▁of ▁fire ar ms . ▁Thus , ▁suic ide ▁rates ▁would ▁not ▁seem ▁to ▁be ▁readily ▁affected ▁by ▁making ▁fire ar ms ▁less ▁available ." ▁ ▁University ▁of ▁Melbourne ▁research ers ▁Wang - Sh eng ▁Lee ▁and ▁Sand y ▁Su ardi ▁concluded ▁their ▁ 2 0 0 8 ▁report , ▁" There ▁is ▁little ▁evidence ▁to ▁suggest ▁that ▁the ▁Australian ▁mand atory ▁gun - bu y back ▁program ▁had ▁any ▁significant ▁effects ▁on ▁fire arm ▁hom ic ides ." ▁ ▁More ▁recently , ▁a ▁ 2 0 1 0 ▁study ▁by ▁Andrew ▁Le igh ▁and ▁Christ ine ▁Ne ill ▁found ▁that , ▁in ▁the ▁de cade ▁after ▁the ▁N FA , ▁non - gun ▁hom ic ide ▁rates ▁fell ▁by ▁ 5 9 % ▁and ▁gun ▁hom ic ides ▁fell ▁by ▁the ▁same ▁ 5 9 % ▁with ▁gun ▁suic ide ▁rates ▁falling ▁by ▁ 6 5 %. ▁ ▁Howard ▁c ited ▁this ▁as ▁showing ▁Australia ▁had ▁been ▁right ▁to ▁adopt ▁the ▁N FA ▁but ▁he ▁omitted ▁to ▁mention ▁the ▁same ▁fall ▁in ▁the ▁non - gun ▁hom ic ide ▁rate . ▁O thers