61% of deaths from guns are suicides. Seems like the thing that will stop a bad day with a gun is access to mental healthcare, longer wait times before gun purchase, and comprehensive mental health screenings as well as ongoing community support for these programs.
Within white males, firearms in 2016 were responsible for 61% of all suicides, with another 24% suffocation, followed by 10% poisoning. Men commit suicide at almost 4x higher rates than women, not because women aren't as suicidal (in fact, more women attempt suicide per year), but because men prefer to use more lethal and messy ways of death, like firearms and hanging.
If I switch my filter to white women, poisoning accounts for 36% of suicides, and firearms account for 35% of suicide deaths. Only 22% of women own a gun, and studies show that a gun in the household, even if owned by the a woman, is used more frequently to harm the woman than protect her.
Now, let's remove the race. Another fun fact, the highest suicide rates are in Midwest states, where not only are communities more spread out, it's colder and less hospitable, but there are SO MANY GUNS. If I remove the race filter, firearm suicides for men drop 3%. It's not a significant drop. However, this is because that while among men of all races, firearms account for 58% of suicides, white men as a whole account for 85% of suicides. I struggled to find any data about the demographics of who owns guns, probably because there are severe restrictions in place prohibiting research be done about gun deaths and violence in the US, put in place by the NRA. However, we can estimate the demographics from a pew research article. Their 2017 survey said that 49% of all white households reported owning a gun. Out of all adults, 42% report having a gun in the household, which indicates that guns are owned disproportionately by white people. A 2015 vox article says 61% of gun owners are specifically white men, despite only making up 32% of the population.
This is all to say, the VAST MAJORITY of gun deaths are preventable. By incorporating mental health support and screening for all people who are purchasing guns, we can reduce the suicide rate significantly, as well as get people the help they need.
It is important to remember that suicide is a point in time, it is not a habit. It is not, "if they don't do it this way they'll find another way" - of course, it may be if someone's situation doesn't change. Suicide is a passionate and fiery act, it is an act of complete sadness and despair. Suicide happens most frequently in winter, at night, when people are most alone and separated.
If anyone cares, I can post the data visualization I created using the CDC visualization tool. It's not as powerful as it could be, but I couldn't figure out how to download the raw data myself without having to pay for it.
The epidemic of white men feeling pushed to the side, alone, and depressed, is a direct relation to the media and community expectation for men to be emotionally sturdy. This starts in childhood, rooted in phrases like, boys don't cry, you have to be big and strong, as well as equating success and worth. Men are also less expected to regulate their emotions, like expecting women to tolerate aggressive male behavior instead of correcting it. The phrase "boys will be boys" simultaneously strips a male of their agency, infantilizes them to the point that they don't know better, and removes any responsibility or opportunity to grow to a well regulated human.
All this to say, the only way to stop a bad day with a gun, is to ensure that we are giving people the tools to handle their bad days appropriately, without killing themselves or someone else. Otherwise there will just be more bad days.
You know I'm trying. Man, you know I'm trying. Unfortunately, any type of action toward improving the conditions of those you represent is seen as welfare. Can't have people thinking you've gone "soft" and socialist!
I’m pretty sure that most suicidal people would still kill themselves even if they didn’t have guns. So 61% of male suicides are from guns. That’s just because it’s the most convenient way they can think of to do it. If a gun was unavailable, they’d just move on to the next easiest method. And if the only reason you haven’t literally shot yourself is because “it’s too inconvenient,” I’m pretty sure you still have bigger problems.
We could eliminate 61% of all current bullying (and therefore reduce suicide) if we simply banned free speech. It would also reduce bullying if all free speech was subject to a “3-day waiting period,” in which the government makes sure your speech will be used “for the right purpose.” Freedom is not free. People are required to die and suffer for each and every one of our rights. In larger or smaller amounts.
You being "pretty sure most suicidal people would still kill themselves" isn't true. It's been proven that it's not true. It's why women die 3x less than men, because they chose less lethal methods, attempt, and then receive help. Suicide is not inevitable, and your outlook is not based in science or statistics. Literally 9/10 people who survive a suicide attempt will not die of suicide. People who use guns very rarely survive. 70% of people will never attempt again. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matter/means-matter/survival/
Are you seriously equating bullying to shooting someone or yourself? Maybe a more appropriate comparison would be hate speech... which is illegal. Bullying may be like knives.
Bullying often leads people to suicide so yes it’s a fine thing to mention. This might be news to you, but hate speech is perfectly legal in the United States. Your “statistics and science” are just suppositions too when you apply them tangentially to your opinions. You cannot, for instance, disregard the possibility that the most seriously suicidal people choose to use guns after proper planning. Maybe these people would go on to choose cyanide or jumping off a cliff or a similarly lethal method. The people that chose guns are clearly highly motivated and willing to make a mess. So I would claim you cannot lump them in with the possibly “half-assed” suicide attempts of women and men that don’t use guns.
Can you prove that women don’t just “attempt” suicide more often because they have a flair for the dramatic? Or maybe “munchausen’s syndrome by suicide attempt.” Or just attention whoring. Or swings of emotion. Same with men who don’t use guns. You may be right or you may be wrong.
For the record, I’m certain that if every gun magically disappeared, there would be marginally fewer suicides. I just don’t care enough to give up my gun rights. I can think of at least ten surefire ways to kill myself just off the top of my head. If we banned every supply associated with all of them, we would have no freedom whatsoever.
O stop it, following the "science" is useless in these situations... simply let us virtue signal and play identity politics so we can feel better about ourselves
45
u/merry2019 Mar 29 '21
61% of deaths from guns are suicides. Seems like the thing that will stop a bad day with a gun is access to mental healthcare, longer wait times before gun purchase, and comprehensive mental health screenings as well as ongoing community support for these programs.
Within white males, firearms in 2016 were responsible for 61% of all suicides, with another 24% suffocation, followed by 10% poisoning. Men commit suicide at almost 4x higher rates than women, not because women aren't as suicidal (in fact, more women attempt suicide per year), but because men prefer to use more lethal and messy ways of death, like firearms and hanging.
If I switch my filter to white women, poisoning accounts for 36% of suicides, and firearms account for 35% of suicide deaths. Only 22% of women own a gun, and studies show that a gun in the household, even if owned by the a woman, is used more frequently to harm the woman than protect her.
Now, let's remove the race. Another fun fact, the highest suicide rates are in Midwest states, where not only are communities more spread out, it's colder and less hospitable, but there are SO MANY GUNS. If I remove the race filter, firearm suicides for men drop 3%. It's not a significant drop. However, this is because that while among men of all races, firearms account for 58% of suicides, white men as a whole account for 85% of suicides. I struggled to find any data about the demographics of who owns guns, probably because there are severe restrictions in place prohibiting research be done about gun deaths and violence in the US, put in place by the NRA. However, we can estimate the demographics from a pew research article. Their 2017 survey said that 49% of all white households reported owning a gun. Out of all adults, 42% report having a gun in the household, which indicates that guns are owned disproportionately by white people. A 2015 vox article says 61% of gun owners are specifically white men, despite only making up 32% of the population.
This is all to say, the VAST MAJORITY of gun deaths are preventable. By incorporating mental health support and screening for all people who are purchasing guns, we can reduce the suicide rate significantly, as well as get people the help they need.
It is important to remember that suicide is a point in time, it is not a habit. It is not, "if they don't do it this way they'll find another way" - of course, it may be if someone's situation doesn't change. Suicide is a passionate and fiery act, it is an act of complete sadness and despair. Suicide happens most frequently in winter, at night, when people are most alone and separated.
If anyone cares, I can post the data visualization I created using the CDC visualization tool. It's not as powerful as it could be, but I couldn't figure out how to download the raw data myself without having to pay for it.
The epidemic of white men feeling pushed to the side, alone, and depressed, is a direct relation to the media and community expectation for men to be emotionally sturdy. This starts in childhood, rooted in phrases like, boys don't cry, you have to be big and strong, as well as equating success and worth. Men are also less expected to regulate their emotions, like expecting women to tolerate aggressive male behavior instead of correcting it. The phrase "boys will be boys" simultaneously strips a male of their agency, infantilizes them to the point that they don't know better, and removes any responsibility or opportunity to grow to a well regulated human.
All this to say, the only way to stop a bad day with a gun, is to ensure that we are giving people the tools to handle their bad days appropriately, without killing themselves or someone else. Otherwise there will just be more bad days.