Gun Control

[cycleguy55]

When people think about deaths from guns, the focus is generally on homicides. But the problem of gun suicide is inescapable: More than 60 percent of people in the U.S.A. who die from guns die by suicide.

Will those determined to commit suicide do so via other means if guns aren't readily accessible? Usually. "...while some people feeling suicidal impulses will choose another method if a gun is not at hand, public health researchers cite two reasons guns are particularly dangerous: 1) Guns are more lethal than most other methods people try, so someone who attempts suicide another way is more likely to survive; 2) Studies suggest that suicide attempts often occur shortly after people decide to kill themselves, so people with deadly means at hand when the impulse strikes are more likely to use them than those who have to wait or plan."

That means that strategies that make suicide more inconvenient or difficult can save lives. Guns, when they are in the home, can make self-harm both easy and deadly.

The self-defense argument for gun ownership is less meaningful in the face of factual information which clearly shows self-harm is more likely than self-defense.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/09/up...ides.html?_r=0