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right, and lets stop saying "gun deaths" and trick people into thinking we mean "murders." There are twice as many suicides as homicides in this country, but w

by stvswn 10y ago

right, and lets stop saying "gun deaths" and trick people into thinking we mean "murders." There are twice as many suicides as homicides in this country, but we're only about average in per-capita suicide compared to the world. We do have more murders than other rich countries, including more murders with guns. But we also have more per capita murders with just about any weapon, as well as more per capita violence of all kinds. We have a violence problem, sure. We kind of always have had a violence problem, we've always been a violent people. I'm not shrugging it off, it's just a fact. It's worth remembering, though, that the murder rate is at a historic low. A 40 year low.

nickbauman 10y ago
> There are twice as many suicides as homicides in this country I think it's a mistake to consider suicide as outside the gun-death problem. I think they should be considered within the continuum of a single problem. Furthermore, the percentage of shots fired causing death in a suicide situation is far higher than a homicide situation. So you can argue that more violence (and injury) occurs when people square off against each other with guns. And I also don't think it's reasonable to compare our gun-death problem with non-OECD nations.