Audie
Veteran Member
Me too.
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Suicide by Gun
- Thread starter Nakosis
- Start date
Audie
Veteran Member
Lazy Old Devil
Member
Yes, although I would imagine that if someone of that mindset has easy access to a gun, then it'll make it more likely that they'll act on impulse, particularly if as @Guitar's Cry said, they're drunk at the time. But gun owners don't want to give up their guns. It makes "...from my cold, dead hands!" seem tragically appropriate...
The stats show that this isn't true for most people.
Any suicide is regrettable. However we should also consider how many times using a gun saves lives. Guns are more often used in defense of life than in taking of it.
Any Study Of 'Gun Violence' Should Include How Guns Save Lives
Any Study Of 'Gun Violence' Should Include How Guns Save Lives
For that reason, by the way, I am very much in favour of Canada's (and other nations') physician assisted end of life laws. A chance to consider, with expert help, and then when the final decision is duly made, something a little tidier and less dramatic than brains splattered on the kitchen wall.
Also, suicide without assistance is unreliable.
I've known people who had different degrees of success.
(The brains were splattered over a hotel room wall.)
Ponder This
Well-Known Member
Since the largest cause of death in the US by firearms is suicide,
What can be done to prevent firearm suicide?
And should we? Does a person have a right to decide for themselves to end their life?
Should we take this decision out of the hands of the individual?
America's gun culture in charts
It is almost always revealing when the statistics offered in gun-related deaths are not the statistics a person would seek out if he genuinely wanted to understand the issue. For example,
This means that it is not like people are accidently falling off a cliff and you just need to put up a railing. It means the vast majority of these gun-related suicides are deliberate. Why by gun? For one thing, the fatality rate of suicide by gun is higher than other methods.
That doesn't mean that suicide by gun is actually the best method, because if you fail to suicide by gun, you can end up alive but permanently disabled. Maybe if that fact was more well-known, people wouldn't choose a gun for suicide as often as other methods of suicide. But wait, while we have been discussing how to decrease suicide by gun, we actually never addressed the principle causes of suicide. That most basic question was completely subverted from the very beginning by the misleading statistics quoted in the OP about guns. Statistics like those from the OP are used to justify gun control despite a lack of gun control not being the primary cause of any of the problems.
Causes of suicide include Depression, Psychosis, and Social Isolation. Contemplated Suicide is seen as an escape from the current "life" situation. A gun, like a cliff, is seen as a means to an end. Some really good questions come out of proper information about the subject:
How can we help people avoid the pitfalls of social isolation?
How can we uplift other people who are feeling hopeless?
How can we help people improve their inner thought life?
These are questions that directly address major causes of suicide. This is the sort of thing that might make a real difference for someone. If these conditions can be improved, then it will be a lasting benefit.How can we uplift other people who are feeling hopeless?
How can we help people improve their inner thought life?
Religion often can help with all three of those causes I listed. It's usually not a question of the "right" religion or the "wrong" religion (although it "can" be) - most religions are going to give you a social group that uplifts you and helps you organize your thought life. That's just how it is.
I'm also going to share a very basic thing that improves almost anyone's life once you get it right: Sleep. If you can get your sleep schedule working harmoniously, the improvement to your life can be massive in almost every aspect. You'll generally be healthier, smarter, happier, and more productive if your sleep cycle is harmonious instead of disrupted. That means not too much and not too little, not too early and not too late, and it means making sure you get enough activity while you're awake that you feel the need to sleep.
These are are just a few things almost anyone can do to improve life. I'm sure other people can give even more ways to improve life. And if enough ideas emerge, maybe, we can, collectively, reduce unnecessary suicides. On the other hand, I'm quite confident that changing a few gun laws will have almost no impact on how many people feel the desire to commit suicide each year and that statistics about the number of gun-related suicides will continue to be among the most useless quoted for that topic (because they are part of another agenda entirely). That said, if someone has an idea about how gun laws can somehow make people feel hopeful, included, and valued, then let's hear it!
esmith
Veteran Member
You brought it up, I'm just stating a fact.
The problem with most anti-gun backers when it comes to suicide by gun is that they blame the gun not the real problem.
They seem to think...... remove the gun and you reduce suicides
Shadow Wolf
Certified People sTabber
Did I even claim that? No. I was pointing out suicide by gun isn't guaranteed quick and a success.
Shadow Wolf
Certified People sTabber
Shotguns fail more than any other firearm due to the recoil.
Shadow Wolf
Certified People sTabber
Drunk or not, guns can be problematic with impulsive violence.
Yeah, I suspect it's not a good idea to discuss more successful methods of suicide on the forums but your point is noted.
Shadow Wolf
Certified People sTabber
It is a good way to highlight the "tough guy" fantasies people have put into guns. They're often viewed as great things that always work. But they won't always defend you, they won't even always take your life.
We need realistic discussions about guns. Because, well, yeah. This thread helps highlight how unhealthy our view towards guns (and suicide) really is.
Wildswanderer
Veteran Member
Maybe, maybe not. It still should not be legal.
Kooky
Freedom from Sanity
Yes, but they also should have a right to psychological treatment so that they don't feel like they have to.
Kooky
Freedom from Sanity
It puts up barriers that can help deter spur of the moment decisions.
This is known to work in the context of e.g. people jumping off bridges.
I don't see why it wouldn't work in this context as well.
Wants and desires are not binary, and suicide can come from spur of the moment decisions that would later be regretted, if that person survived.
But I suppose that for a politically influential number of Americans, restricting access to lethal weapons is too high a price to pay for potentially saving a few lives.
Kooky
Freedom from Sanity
Let me guess, you consider restricting access to guns for people suffering from clinical depression and suicidal tendencies to be totally out of the question until and unless society has completely eradicated depression altogether.
No! That's too socialist.
Well, ok, fine.
Health, Education and Welfare IMO are important enough to the health of a nation that we need to collectively support it and need our politicians to support it as well.
"Gun culture is necessary because I'm surrounded by threats because of gun culture."