Speaking of leaving, more South Dakotans are checking out permanently by gun:
The number of South Dakotans who took their own lives with a firearm rose to 116 last year, and the proportion of South Dakota suicides involving a gun rose to 59%, according to the state Department of Health. The state’s gun-suicide rate rose to 12.6 per 100,000 people. All three numbers are the highest in recent years’ data for the state [Joshua Haiar, “Gun Suicide Deaths Rise in South Dakota,” South Dakota Searchlight, 2025.12.07].
South Dakotans use guns to kill themselves four times as often as they turn their deadly aim on others:
Over the last ten years, 83% of South Dakota gun deaths have been suicides; nationwide in 2023, suicides were 58% of gun deaths.
South Dakota doesn’t have the highest gun suicide rate—go to Wyoming for that grim distinction, followed by Montana, Alaska, Idaho, and Oklahoma—but South Dakota’s gun suicide rate is higher than the national average. Suicide by firearm is more frequent in rural states, says the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, “because of limited access to mental health services, high rates of alcohol use, and the highest rates of gun ownership, thus allowing for easier accessibility and exposure to guns.” Don’t expect helpful action from Governor Rhoden or the South Dakota Legislature on any of those fronts.
