preventing gun suicide

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even the prestigious "scientific american" doesn't espouse permanent gun bans for folks who are suicidal, just limiting access until the crisis passes. this is what a friend of mine did. he locked up his guns and gave the key to his wife to hide. now he is better and he can still hunt.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... -suicides/

Those involuntary committed are not permitted to purchase guns I don't think, they would fail the background test.

the law needs to be changed, jacoby.

the law is an inflexible ass.

So you think if a person is suicidal in their 20's, then they should never be able to have a gun their entire life? People change. You want to make sure they don't come into contact with any prescription drugs and otc drugs too? Haven't we already had this discussion about guns not being the only suicide weapon a million times? Why keep beating a dead horse?

Japan seems to be pretty good at suicide with their lack of fire sticks.

People find a way.

(Not that suicide is a "bad" thing. Their body, their choice.)

i think people are missing Cathy's point, in that suicidal people need to be protected from themselves only until the crisis passes. at least I think that is what she said.

There is no way you can determine if somebody is suicidal unless they say they are and a lot of the time that is a cry for help

the people that do it might not say anything

some can be discerned to be suicidal. if it saves ONE, it is worth it AFAIC.

Nah, it isn't about restrictions. "The first thing we do, let's..." mandate every American to carry a law-enforcement officer on their backs watching for that moment when the human mule brandishes his or her firearm for any reason. Yeah, that would do it!

I'm for gun control, gun registration, gun restrictions...and so on.

But this idea - in my opinion - has the potential to cause more harm over time than good.

Our society does not take mental health/mental illnesses seriously. Even when it's not overt, we still equate mental illness with "moral weakness", a remnant from a hundred years ago, and certain cultural influences.

Restricting gun access on paper or in fact does not solve that problem.

If we want to reduce suicide, we need to fix society. Grant mental health a status equal to physical health.

I avoided treatment for depression for years because I was afraid of creating a paper trail that could have jeopardized my past plans of joining the military, and my gun rights; this sort of law, while well intended, will doubtlessly lead to more people simply not getting treatment for the same reasons.

the article doesn't recommend laws. it recommends intervention by friends and family the way my friend handled it.

I know I'm gonna get hated on for this, but the only way to keep people from committing suicide by firearm is to make other means of suicide more available.

If someone is really determined to do it, they don't need a gun.

fnord, most suicides are impulsive. only 10% of folks who attempt and fail ever try again. guns are 85% of the time lethal, while pills are only 2%. preventing lethal methods often gives someone a second chance.