19,392 gun suicides

[snooper2]

Thats more than double the gun homicides, accidents and justifiable homicides combined-


Are we trying to prevent/stop all of those or are we only focused on the 8,275 criminal actions and the 606 unintentional gun deaths? I never see anybody talk about the suicide by gun which is the really big fucking number in the statistics of total gun deaths.

[Recursion]

1. Suicide is a giant black hole in our national discussion

And it has been for a long time.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

2. You want to have that conversation? We can have that conversation.

I don't think you'd like it though. Just my gut.

[snooper2]

5. Well I started the OP didn't I, throw it out there...

[Tommy_Carcetti]

7. Goes to mental health screening as a pre-requesite for gun purchases.

And yes, I do know that if denied a gun, a suicidal person could always try to kill him or herself in some other way. That doesn't mean we have to make it easier.

[snooper2]

9. But that's a one time deal

If I go out and buy a gun today and get screened, woo no problem. Bought a gun...

5 years from now if something horrible happens and I think time to just end it all what good is the screening then?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

10. If you are talking about my own personal opinion.....

...I'm for periodic psych evaluations as a condition to being able to keep one's weapon.

Unfortunately, I don't know if the legislative will would be there for such a thing, given the strength of the gun lobby.

[snooper2]

11. I could go for that, I think logistically speaking it would be a pain in the ass

You would have to have something like the DMV where people have to have a vision test every so often--

[Tommy_Carcetti]

12. Glad to know we agree on something. nt

[HereSince1628]

15. Which is why there needs to be education

So that caring persons know how to recognize a d responded to crises in those whom we care to care about

[HereSince1628]

14. Most suicidal persons won't appear in NICS

[HereSince1628]

3. that is also why depression is the deadliest mental illness n/t

[Nuclear Unicorn]

4. "Take the gun, leave the disease," is not a sign of compassion. n/t

[GreenStormCloud]

6. It is a risk that I choose to accept for myself.

I do not appreciate gun-grabber efforts to protect me from myself. If have as much right to accept that risk as people who practice dangerous sports do to accept the risks of their sports.

[geckosfeet]

8. Suicide by smoking takes many more lives.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

13. The suicides in the UK indicate that an absence of firearm ownership does not prevent suicides.

"The male suicide rate in 2011 was the highest since 2002, and among 45-59-year-old men the highest since 1986, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). In all, 6,045 suicides were recorded in the UK among people aged 15 and over. The suicide rate was 11.8 deaths per 100,000 people, the highest since 2004.

"For men, the suicide rate was 18.2 per 100,000 population. The rate was highest among males aged 30 to 44, at 23.5 per 100,000. Among 45-59-year-old men the figure was 22.2 per 100,000.

"Female suicides rose to 1,493, or 5.6 per 100,000. Suicides among 15- to 29-year-old females rose from 2.9 per 100,000 in 2007 to 4.2 per 100,000.

"In England, the suicide rate was 10.4 deaths per 100,000; highest in the north-east, at 12.9, and lowest in London, at 8.9. In Wales, the suicide rate was 13.9, up from 10.7 in 2009.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/jan/22/alarm-rise-uk-suicide-rate