Using data from Washington state, 2 assumptions on which interventions can be based were tested: compared with urban areas, rural areas have a higher percentage of deaths from shotguns & rifles, & a higher percentage of gun deaths from suicides & accidents. 4,271 gun deaths between 1990-1996 were studied. The hypotheses were confirmed; however, two similarities stand out: handguns accounted for more than 50% of gun deaths & suicides accounted for nearly 70% of gun deaths in both urban & rural areas. Family physicians might want to focus their firearm safety efforts on preventing handgun deaths & suicides which accounted for most gun deaths in rural & urban areas. (38 refs.)