Although method restriction has often been touted as a means of suicide prevention, it may incur significant financial costs to implement. Given the finite resources allocated to suicide prevention, it is necessay to direct resources into interventions that are most likely to have an impact. This paper tests for possible impacts of a cost-intensive Australianp olicy change (increasedf irearms restriction) on suicides among persons aged 45years and over. Suicide rates by different age groups and methods were examined for structural breaks, using Zivot-Andrews andQuandt tests. There was little evidence to support the view that increased firearms restriction impacted on suicides among middle aged and olderAustralians. There were few structural breaks in general, suggesting that suicide among the older demographic may be resistant to prevention initiatives. This points the way to carefully tailored intervention strategies, and highlights the value of disaggregating suicide rates by age when evaluating prevention policies.