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That is gun deaths, not gun homicides or mass shootings. Around 2/3rds of gun deaths are suicides. A suicidal person will choose the most effective and painless
by chroma 4y ago
That is gun deaths, not gun homicides or mass shootings. Around 2/3rds of gun deaths are suicides. A suicidal person will choose the most effective and painless method available to them, so if they have a gun around, they'll use it. This is a totally different problem than gun violence, but many activists will conflate the two.
- dragontamer 4y agoIts not "conflation". Its recognition that background-checks, and delays, should reduce gun-violence AND cut back on suicides.
- Ichthypresbyter 4y agoI'm not sure how much of an effect they would have on suicides. This may just be my stereotypical mental image, but I suspect that a lot of gun suicide victims have owned the gun in question for a long time, in which case a waiting period wouldn't help any more than a waiting period to buy a car would stop people driving off bridges. Are there any numbers on how many people commit suicide with guns they bought in the last 6 months of their life?