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>Not the OP, but higher availability of guns is correlated with higher suicide rates (most notoriously in US mountains states like Wyoming), because it makes it
by frgtpsswrdlame 8y ago
>Not the OP, but higher availability of guns is correlated with higher suicide rates (most notoriously in US mountains states like Wyoming), because it makes it easier to act on impulse when people hit their lowest points, rather than muddling through because they don't have easy means.
Or you know, there might be a third variable there... Something about declining rural areas possibly.
- smt88 8y agoThere is that third variable, but there are also studies that control for geography and even study a stable population of depressed patients. There's also a lot of theory to back up the idea that guns increase suicide rates. First, if people have to take time to prep for suicide, they have time to think and sometimes change their minds. With a gun, the time between thought and action is so small, they don't have this chance. Second, guns have a much higher success rate than most other methods. This is why women attempt suicide at higher rates, but succeed far less often -- they usually don't use guns. There are studies that look at a stable population, and they find that the same person is much more likely to succeed at suicide after they become a gun owner.