Guns & Suicide: The Hidden Toll

hsph.harvard.edu ^ | 8/13/2014 | unknown

[rktman]

Though guns are not the most common method by which people attempt suicide, they are the most lethal. About 85 percent of suicide attempts with a firearm end in death. (Drug overdose, the most widely used method in suicide attempts, is fatal in less than 3 percent of cases.) Moreover, guns are an irreversible solution to what is often a passing crisis. Suicidal individuals who take pills or inhale car exhaust or use razors have time to reconsider their actions or summon help. With a firearm, once the trigger is pulled, there’s no turning back.

[rktman]

Yikes the old 8 million times more likely to commit suicide if there's a (gasp) gun in the house canard. Well, they did mention belts. Those intent on suicide will do it regardless. It's called MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES for a reason. If Robin Williams had only been denied belts he'd probably still be alive today. Or not. Say, didn't some other brilliant person attend Hah-vahd that we all know?

[EagleUSA]

Did not get past “harvard.edu”...

[Da Coyote]

Sorry, Harvard. You 1) let in and 2) graduated the Obamadork.

You have obviously ground up, burned, sh*t upon, ate, and then excreted your standards.

We no longer believe anything coming out of your joke of an institution (STEM departments excepted, of course).

Please go away.

[lavaroise]

Letting oneself raped is also suicide. Idiots. They project their suicide tendencies and associate us with the guilt.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Suicides per 100,000 people per year^[1]

Rank	Country	Male	Female	Average	Year
1	Greenland[2][3] (more info)	116.9	45.0	83.0	2011[4]
2	Lithuania[5] (more info)	54.7	10.8	31.0	2012
3	South Korea[6] (more info)	38.2	18.0	28.1	2012
4	Guyana[7](more info)	39.0	13.4	26.4	2006
5	Kazakhstan[7](more info)	43.0	9.4	25.6	2008
6	Slovenia[8]	34.6	9.4	21.8	2011
7	Hungary[9]	37.4	8.5	21.7	2009
8	Japan (more info)[10]			21.4	2013
9	Sri Lanka (more info)	34.8	9.24	21.3	2011[11]
10	Latvia[citation needed]			20.8	2010[12]
11	Belarus[13][14]			20.5	2012
12	Ukraine[15] (more info)			19.8	2012
13	Croatia[16]	30.2	10.0	19.7	2002
14	Sweden	16.4	5.9	19.2	2012 [17]
15	Russia[18] (more info)			18.9	2014
16	Moldova			17.6	2008
17	Poland			17.5	2013
18	Serbia	24.9	9.0	17.3	2011[19]
19	Belgium[note 1][9][note 2]			17.0	2009[20]
20	Uruguay[21]			16.5	2012
21	Bhutan[22](more info)			16.2	2011
22	Finland[23]	24.6	7.9	16.0	2012
23	South Africa[24]			15.4	2005
24	Austria	23.8	7.1	15.45	2009
25	Taiwan[25]	20.5	9.7	15.1	2011
26	Estonia	27.3	4.5	14.8	2010[12]
27	France (more info)	22.8	7.4	14.7	2010[12]
28	Suriname	23.9	4.8	14.4	2005
29	Bosnia and Herzegovina[26]			13.3	2011
30	Czech Republic			12.8	2010
31	Cuba	19.0	5.5	12.3	2008
32	Bulgaria	18.8	6.2	12.3	2008
33	Hong Kong[27]	10.6	13.8	12.2	2011
34	United States[28] (more info)	19.2	5.5	12.0	2009
35	Romania	20.8	3.7	11.9	2009
36	Norway	14.0	5.0	11.9	2012
37	United Kingdom (more info)	18.2	5.1	11.8	2011[29]
38	New Zealand[30]	17.0	6.4	11.5	2010
39	Portugal[9]			11.5	2011[31]
40	Canada (more info)	17.9	5.3	11.5	2009[32]
41	Denmark	16.6	6.2	11.3	2010[33]
42	Iceland[34]	18.3	4.6	11.3	2009
43	Chile	18.2	4.2	11.2	2007
44	Switzerland	16.5	6.2	11.1	2009
45	Trinidad and Tobago	17.9	3.8	10.7	2006
46	India (more info)	13.0	7.8	10.5	2009
47	Ireland	17.4	3.4	10.3	2013[35]
48	Singapore	13.3	7.3	10.3	2012[36]
49	Australia[37]	15.3	4.8	10.0	2011
50	Slovakia[9]	17.4	2.8	9.9	2011
51	Germany[9]	15.6	4.7	9.9	2010
52	Kyrgyzstan	14.1	3.6	8.8	2009
53	Netherlands[9]	12.0	5.0	8.8	2010
54	Turkmenistan	13.8	3.5	8.6	1998
55	Republic of Macedonia[9]	12.6	3.9	8.0	2009
56	El Salvador	12.9	3.6	8.0	2008
57	China[38] [39]	8.3	7.6	7.9	2006
58	Zimbabwe	10.6	5.2	7.9	1990
59	Luxembourg[9]	13.2	2.9	7.8	2008
60	Argentina	12.6	3.0	7.7	2008
61	Spain	11.8	3.4	7.6	2012[40]
62	Ecuador	10.5	3.6	7.1	2009
63	Mauritius	11.8	1.9	6.8	2008
64	Italy	10.0	2.8	6.3	2007
65	Costa Rica	10.2	1.9	6.1	2009
66	Thailand	9.5	2.7	6.1	2011[41]
67	Israel[42]	9.9	2.1	5.8	2007
68	Nicaragua	9.0	2.6	5.8	2006
69	Panama	9.0	1.9	5.5	2008
70	Colombia	7.9	2.0	4.9	2007
71	Brazil	7.7	2.0	4.8	2008
72	Iran[43][44]	3.9	2.1	4.8	2013
73	Uzbekistan	7.0	2.3	4.7	2005
74	Cambodia			4.6	2008
75	Georgia	7.1	1.7	4.3	2009
76	Albania[45]	4.7	3.3	4.0	2003
77	Mexico	6.8	1.3	4.0	2008
78	Honduras[46]			3.84	2011
79	Bahrain	4.0	3.5	3.8	2006
80	Belize	6.6	0.7	3.7	2008
81	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	5.4	1.9	3.7	2008
82	Turkey[47]			3.62	2011
83	Paraguay	5.1	2.0	3.6	2008
84	Cyprus[9]	5.9	1.3	3.6	2009
85	Guatemala	5.6	1.7	3.6	2008
86	Barbados	7.3	0.0	3.5	2006
87	Greece	6.1	1.0	3.5	2009
88	Malta	5.9	1.0	3.4	2008
89	Venezuela	5.3	1.2	3.2	2007
90	Philippines	4.5	1.0	2.75	2005[48]
91	Tajikistan	2.9	2.3	2.6	2001
92	Saint Lucia	4.9	0.0	2.4	2005
93	Dominican Republic	3.9	0.7	2.3	2005
94	Armenia	2.8	1.1	1.9	2008
95	Kuwait	1.9	1.7	1.8	2009
96	The Bahamas	1.9	0.6	1.2	2005
97	Jordan	0.0	0.0	1.1	2009
98	Pakistan [49]	1.45	0.71	1.10	2012
99	Peru	1.1	0.6	0.9	2000
100	São Tomé and Príncipe	0.0	1.8	0.9	1987
101	Azerbaijan	1.0	0.3	0.6	2007
102	Maldives	0.7	0.0	0.3	2005
103	Jamaica	0.3	0.0	0.1	1990
104	Syria	0.2	0.0	0.1	1985
105	Egypt	0.1	0.0	0.1	2009
106	Grenada	0.0	0.0	0.0	2008
107	Saint Kitts and Nevis	0.0	0.0	0.0	1995
108	Antigua and Barbuda	0.0	0.0	0.0	1995
109	Haiti	0.0	0.0	0.0	2003
110	Nepal	0.0	0.0	0.0	2003

[theBuckwheat]

As with all things liberal, the issue is always far more the effect or the end goal than the issue itself. Is this mere coincidence this story appears shortly after Robin Williams hung himself? Is the author projecting his disappointment that Williams used his life with a belt rather than a much more lethal gun?

[Smokin' Joe]

Moreover, guns are an irreversible solution to what is often a passing crisis

No, numbnuts, suicide is an irreversible solution to what is often a passing crisis.

Guns are tools, just like knives, hammers, and Skilsaws, they just happen to be the tool of choice for some people to abuse to quit trying to make their lives better.

Ban them and you'll have people trying to beat themselves to death with a stick or landing all over the danged sidewalks.

[left that other site]

Time to outlaw knives, scissors, belts, suspenders, shoelaces, razor blades, letter openers, sleeping pills, tranquilizers, aspirin, alcohol, drain cleaner, bleach, spray paint, disinfectant, laundry detergent, floor wax, pillows, nylons, rope, string, twine, baloons, and plastic bags.

For the CHILLdren.

[rktman]

Obviously more work needs to be done for the US to claim the #1 spot.

[Usagi_yo]

I know two men who have committed suicide. One shot himself, the other threw himself off the Coronado bridge. Both told me before hand that they wanted to kill themselves, but I always thought it was in jest. Both had money problems, both had married strippers when young, got divorced in a few years and where paying Alimony and Child support out the nose.

Moral of the story .... Do not marry a stripper.

[Pollster1]

Though guns are not the most common method by which people attempt suicide, they are the most lethal. About 85 percent of suicide attempts with a firearm end in death. (Drug overdose, the most widely used method in suicide attempts, is fatal in less than 3 percent of cases.)

Gun suicides want to succeed, which is why they choose a firearm and aim correctly. If you deny a potential gun suicide access to a firearm, he will not default to an "overdose" and call for help before he finishes taking the pills - he will drive into a concrete structure at 100 miles per hour without a seatbelt or jump from a tall building. The honest conclusion is that people who want to succeed at killing themselves usually choose a method that will succeed, while those who want to fail will usually choose an intentionally unreliable method to attract attention.

[Steamburg]

Some poor bastard always takes the bait and accepts the lie in the premise.
First, there are no such compiled statistics from any reliable source. Second, there is no basis to condemn the fact that firearms work as designed. Finally, if their concerns were actually followed to conclusion, there should be schools on how to properly overdose yourself.

[zaxtres]

And so it goes... the articles on suicide after another celebrity succumbs to its grips. Watching the Five on Fox last night the prophetic words were spoken of the story is not how the celebrity is to be remembered but how in the aftermath is the story of the stories that come out as a result of the tragedy.

What’s interesting here is that this suicide was done by strangulation and yet the story speaks to guns. Way to go there for threading the needle into a gun control debate.

Guns don’t kill people, bullets do. You don’t need a gun to fire a bullet. A screwdriver and hammer will do just fine. (Well if you strike a person with a gun, that could possibly kill them so technically in this way a gun can kill a person.)

[meadsjn]

Ironic that after slaughtering (or voting to slaughter) 57 Million babies who have done nothing wrong except exist without liberal permission, the liberals pretend to be so concerned about suicides.

Liberals want to dictate who lives, and they want to dictate who dies.

[zaxtres]

I hated when a person wanted to jump off the Coronado bridge, we got stuck on base until the crisis passed. Sometimes this was for many many hours. With the bridge the only way off the Island without driving fifteen hours(exageration) out of your way to get to SD this sucked for all involved. Sorry for your friend.

[mylife]

Who knew Haiti was such a happy place?

[thorvaldr]

If you take any training at all in suicide prevention, they will tell you that people attempting suicide are pretty carefully about selecting method and circumstances (likelihood of being discovered, etc.) based on how conflicted they are concerning the attempt. Guns are very final, everyone knows that, and everyone who chooses to use a gun for a suicide attempt has no intention of being stopped.
Japan and Russia have lots of gun control and much higher suicide rates than we have. there are lots of very definite very irreversible strategies to commit suicide without access to a gun.
Citizen disarmament proponents always want to reference suicide rates. They are always included in “gun deaths”. But it’s just a matter of availability, people use what they have if you banned tall buildings, hibachis or commuter trains, fewer of these would be used in suicides too, but that doesn’t make it a good idea.

[Labyrinthos]

There are equally lethal means of suicide that are used less than guns only because they are slightly less convenient. Jumping off a ten story bridge or balcony is as irreversible as pulling the trigger. Take away guns from law abiding citizens and the people who really want to kill themselves will still find away, and those of us who are happy with life may very well lose it without a lawful means to protect ourselves.

[lacrew]

Belts don’t kill people.....

[Carriage Hill]

Haiti or Nepal? Coin toss.