To Reduce Suicides, Keep the Guns Away

[billh58]

As Americans debate how the country should respond to gun violence, they should not lose sight of the biggest category of firearm deaths: suicides. About two-thirds of people killed by guns, or 20,000 a year, kill themselves.

The rate at which Americans commit suicide with guns has been increasing for several years, even as the rate of gun homicides has declined. Research shows that the increase is correlated with higher gun ownership. Public health experts say ready access to firearms makes it easier for people to act on suicidal thoughts. And about 85 percent of suicide attempts that involve guns are successful, compared with less than 3 percent of those involving drug overdoses. Over all, guns were used in about half of the 41,000 suicides in 2013, the latest year for which there is data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

These numbers are all the more tragic because suicide is a leading cause of death among young people. And contrary to the conventional wisdom that people who are determined to end their lives will find a way to do so, 90 percent of people who survive suicide attempts do not eventually die by suicide.

The country could reduce the death toll by enacting better safety policies and investing in education campaigns. A good place to start would be to encourage gun owners to properly secure their firearms, by placing them in safes and storing them separately from ammunition. This would make it harder for teenagers, who are more impulsive, to commit suicide and help reduce the toll of unintentional gun deaths, estimated at about 500 in 2013.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/12/14/opinion/to-reduce-suicides-keep-the-guns-away.html?_r=0

According to the right-wing ALEC/NRA supporters, suicide shouldn't be counted as gun "violence." The fact remains that the chances for a "successful" suicide increase dramatically with the presence of a gun in the home. The same math applies to "accidental" death by gun. Guns are designed to kill, and with a little help from NRA gun nuts and apologists are very efficient for that purpose.

[billh58]

1. States With More Gun Owners Have More Gun-Related Suicides: Study

THURSDAY, May 19, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- In states where there are more gun owners, there are also more gun-related suicides, a new U.S. study finds.

Looking at 33 years' worth of data, the researchers found that states with more gun owners generally had more suicides by firearm among both men and women. Men in those states also had higher overall suicide rates.

The findings do not prove that guns lead to more suicides, said lead researcher Dr. Michael Siegel, a professor at the Boston University School of Public Health.

However, his team considered many other factors that could affect a state's suicide patterns -- including unemployment levels, divorce rates, crime and residents' typical alcohol intake.

And still, suicide rates rose in tandem with gun ownership, Siegel noted. For every 10-percentage-point increase in a state's gun ownership level, the rate of gun-related suicides among men rose by 3 per 100,000 people.

https://consumer.healthday.com/general-health-information-16/suicide-health-news-646/states-with-more-gun-owners-have-more-suicides-study-711170.html

More unregulated guns = more gun deaths.

[flamin lib]

2. Suicide not gun violence?

Most suicides are discovered by loved ones. All gun suicides have to be cleaned up by professional crime seen services because blood and brain matter are every where. Carpet replaced, walls repainted furniture discarded, but it's not violent?

I challenge any gunner to do a google image search for gun + suicide and defend suicide by gun is not gun violence.

[billh58]

3. According to ALEC/NRA supporters and apologists

only "thugs" commit gun violence. All other gun deaths and injuries are just the price we must pay for Liberty because: Second Amendment (see Zimmerman fan club for details).