[quote=spdrun]You’re more likely to be accidentally shot in the foot by a family member cleaning their gun than be hurt by a terrorist. Yet people scream whenever slight restrictions on firearms are created, despite that laws are looser now than 20-30 years ago.[/quote]
Would those deaths disappear if there were no guns? Would changing the current gun laws decrease the likelihood of suicide? Hard to say, but since we are about the middle of the pack (maybe a little higher than average) compared to European countries, the likelihood is that it wouldn’t change much. And the rate of suicide among the elderly is going up in a way that’s very frightening: http://gerocentral.org/clinical-toolbox/clinical-issues/suicide-2/
These sort of stats are largely ignored – because people don’t feel threatened by other people’s suicides, especially when they are old (and most commonly old white men).
I don’t like guns, I’ve never owned a gun but just as money doesn’t buy happiness, gun laws don’t buy safety. There are clearly other factors at work that no one seems to be paying attention to. Children could buy hunting rifles at department stores in the 60s, but we didn’t have the problems we do now.
And Brian, referring to your earlier post – I am a scientist. Data is important. At one point people laughed at those that thought the world was round. Challenge your assumptions – and maybe you’ll learn something ;).
