Suicides account for over half of gun deaths
The Kentucky Wizard
"Guns don't kill half of the people killed by guns, suicidal people kill
half of the people killed by guns."
Wiz.....
ATLANTA, Georgia, (AP) -- The Supreme Court's landmark ruling on gun
ownership last week focused on citizens' ability to defend themselves from
intruders in their homes. But research shows that surprisingly often, gun
owners use the weapons on themselves.
Suicides accounted for 55 percent of the nation's nearly 31,000 firearm
deaths in 2005, the most recent year for which statistics are available from
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There was nothing unique about that year -- gun-related suicides have
outnumbered firearm homicides and accidents for 20 of the last 25 years. In
2005, homicides accounted for 40 percent of gun deaths. Accidents accounted
for 3 percent. The remaining 2 percent included legal killings, such as when
police do the shooting, and cases that involve undetermined intent.
Public-health researchers have concluded that in homes where guns are
present, the likelihood that someone in the home will die from suicide or
homicide is much greater.
Studies have also shown that homes in which a suicide occurred were three to
five times more likely to have a gun present than households that did not
experience a suicide, even after accounting for other risk factors.
In a 5-4 decision, the high court on Thursday struck down a handgun ban
enacted in the District of Columbia in 1976 and rejected requirements that
firearms have trigger locks or be kept disassembled. The ruling left intact
the district's licensing restrictions for gun owners.
One public-health study found that suicide and homicide rates in the
district dropped after the ban was adopted. The district has allowed
shotguns and rifles to be kept in homes if they are registered, kept
unloaded and taken apart or equipped with trigger locks.
The American Public Health Association, the American Association of
Suicidology and two other groups filed a legal brief supporting the
district's ban. The brief challenged arguments that if a gun is not
available, suicidal people will just kill themselves using other means.
More than 90 percent of suicide attempts using guns are successful, while
the success rate for jumping from high places was 34 percent. The success
rate for drug overdose was 2 percent, the brief said, citing studies.
"Other methods are not as lethal," said Jon Vernick, co-director of the
Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research in Baltimore.
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.
"If a resident has a handgun in the home that he can use for self-defense,
then he has a handgun in the home that he can use to commit suicide or
engage in acts of domestic violence," Breyer wrote.
Researchers in other fields have raised questions about the public-health
findings on guns.
Gary Kleck, a researcher at Florida State University's College of
Criminology and Criminal Justice, estimates there are more than 1 million
incidents each year in which firearms are used to prevent an actual or
threatened criminal attack.
Public-health experts have said the telephone survey methodology Kleck used
likely resulted in an overestimate.
Both sides agree there has been a significant decline in the last decade in
public-health research into gun violence.
The CDC traditionally was a primary funder of research on guns and
gun-related injuries, allocating more than $2.1 million a year to such
projects in the mid-1990s.
But the agency cut back research on the subject after Congress in 1996
ordered that none of the CDC's appropriations be used to promote gun
control.
Vernick said the Supreme Court decision underscores the need for further
study into what will happen to suicide and homicide rates in the district
when the handgun ban is lifted.
Today, the CDC budgets less than $900,000 for firearm-related projects, and
most of it is spent to track statistics. The agency no longer funds
gun-related policy analysis.
--
Never argue with an idiot; they'll drag you down to their level and beat you
with experience.
© The Wiz ®
«¤»¥«¤»¥«¤»
Magnus
wrote:
Wiz,
Expect to get a post from J. D. Baldwin soon. :-)
magnus
J.D. Baldwin
In the previous article, The Kentucky Wizard <KyWi...@insightbb.com>
quoted:
> ATLANTA, Georgia, (AP) -- The Supreme Court's landmark ruling on gun
> ownership last week focused on citizens' ability to defend themselves from
> intruders in their homes. But research shows that surprisingly often, gun
> owners use the weapons on themselves.
>
> Suicides accounted for 55 percent of the nation's nearly 31,000
> firearm deaths in 2005, the most recent year for which statistics
> are available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
I hear that Berlin Wall got opened up, too.
Just didn't want to disappoint Bob.
--
_+_ From the catapult of |If anyone disagrees with any statement I make, I
_|70|___:)=}- J.D. Baldwin |am quite prepared not only to retract it, but also
\ / bal...@panix.com|to deny under oath that I ever made it. -T. Lehrer
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