Total & firearm suicide rates in the U.S. from 1933-82 were examined by 5-year age groups for males & females 10-24 years of age. Both rates increased in all groups until the 1970s. Rates continued to climb for 10-19-year-olds but declined for 20-24-year-olds. The proportion of firearm suicides increased from about half the total in the 1930s to nearly two thirds in the early 1980s. In all 3 groups, female suicides used firearms in nearly the same proportion as males. 73 refs. (LH)