Corolinth wrote:
What guns do to promote suicide is provide a convenient method. Now, that is specific to handguns. People don't generally kill themselves with rifles and shotguns. Yes, I know Kurt Cobain swallowed the barrel of a 12-gauge, and he is an exception. Killing yourself with a rifle or shotgun is very cumbersome. The appeal of suicide by gun is that it's quick and convenient. That means pistols. I want to put the barrel to my temple or mouth and pull the trigger, I don't want to have to figure out how to get my toe through the trigger guard because my arm isn't long enough to reach while I've got the barrel in my mouth.
This goes further. Something else that has been observed was the effect of proper firearm safety on deterring suicides. Most gun control advocates are unaware that various state and federal laws prohibit the transportation of loaded firearms. If you're taking a firearm across state lines, you have to transport the weapon and the ammunition in separate containers. Firearm safety goes a step further. I don't know how it is for other states, but Missouri Hunter Education training on firearm safety states that firearms should never be loaded in storage. Ammunition should be removed from the chambers and magazines, returned to the box, and stored in a separate safe or closet, or at the very least on a separate shelf. This safety protocol is older than I am. It was added to address concerns of children hurting themselves with Dad's rifle long before gun control advocates ever got up in arms about children accidentally shooting themselves.
Remember when I said the allure of gun suicide was convenience? The simple act of having to put a bullet in the chamber deters the majority of would-be gun suicides. I'm feeling worthless and low, like the world would be better off without me, and I reach into my nightstand for the pistol so that I can end it all. That's how gun suicide works. It is a momentary thought that is able to be carried out because it only takes a moment. If you have to load the gun, you are likely to change your mind.
In the time it takes me to get out the box of ammunition, open it up, and take out a bullet, the thought has passed. I no longer want to kill myself.
Sounds like depressed people are incredibly lazy.