(no subject)

[novapsyche]

Surprising fact: Half of gun deaths are suicides -- "The high court's majority opinion made no mention of suicide. But in a dissenting opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer used the word 14 times in voicing concern about the impact of striking down the handgun ban."

Comments

[gwendally.livejournal.com]

People who want to commit suicide can do it lots of different ways. All you're saying is that people WANT guns. They're a tool that does the job they want done.

I'm not in favor of people dying from untreated mental illness, don't get me wrong when I say this, but I do think that the world is astonishingly over-crowded and if people legitimately want to take a pass - just skip all the suffering, etc - then I say "go for it." I'm in favor of assisted suicide as well. Death can be a mercy. Don't be down on guns because people choose a tool that gets the job done.

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

Think about teenagers.

[gwendally.livejournal.com]

I've got two. The guns are locked up. Where did you read that the teen-agers were committing suicide? It's cops who just see too much. It's old people who don't want to live through the horrors and indignities of old age. (Have you read anything about the six nursing homes my FIL has been in during the past seven months?) It's people who have a degenerative disease or just no hope or general uselessness or worthlessness of their lives. Who am I to say they're wrong?

[gwendally.livejournal.com]

Reading the article, I can't help thinking they've conflated two issues: people who take care of things are more likely to take care of their own deaths. People who take care of things are more likely to own weapons. There. The gun owners I know are self-sufficient, self-reliant, stewards of their communities. They are the people you turn to when things go to shit. They're Myles Standish and Cagney and Laicey and Muldar and Sculley. They're the law and order types that are watching out for you.

Tasty rant

[childe.livejournal.com]

ftp://ftp.rantradio.com/seankrants/Sean%20Kennedy-Suicide.mp3

[riffalike.livejournal.com]

Yes, teenagers can use guns in self defense too.

http://www.nbc5i.com/news/16420745/detail.html

the facts never stopped scalia from writing what he wants

[voiceandsalt.livejournal.com]

arthur kellerman points out in the washington post that in atlanta, where 1/3 of households have guns, a home invader is two times more likely to find the homeowner's gun than the homeowner is to get it first. so much for warding off the robber with the gun in one hand and calling 911 with the other hand, tony.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/27/AR2008062702864.html?hpid=opinionsbox1