Suicides and Firearms accidents: stuff you dont read about

[danb]

I get so tired of killing zombie lies. It really irritates me when I see "gun violence" statistics that include suicides - so much that I decided to look it up. Did you know that the firearms share of suicide was much higher in 1990 than it is now? From 1990-present the gun share of suicides declined to 50.5% from 61%, even though the suicide rate is the same. I summarized the data below but attached a spreadsheet for more detail.


Here is a 5-yr summary (the spreadsheet has all the data)
rate= suicide rate per 100k. Source: Statistical Abstract of the US.

Year Rate Firearms Share
2010 12.4 50.5%
2005 11.0 52.1%
2000 10.4 56.5%
1995 11.8 59.1%
1990 12.4 61.1%
1985 12.4 59.0%
1980 12.2 57.3%
1975 12.7 55.0%
1970 11.6 50.1%
1965 11.1 46.0%
1960 10.6 47.4%
1955 10.2 46.3%
1950 11.4 43.0%
1945 11.2 36.0%
1940 14.4 37.4%
1935 14.3 37.5%
1930 15.6 36.8%
1925 12.0 34.5%
1920 10.2 35.0%
1915 16.2 32.6%
1910 15.3 29.8%
1905 13.5 25.2%
1900 10.2 22.1%

How come I have not heard about this massive decline in gun suicides as a share of total suicides?

Also, here is the rate of unintentional firearms deaths since 1968. It has declined dramatically since 1968.

Year #Deaths unintentional firearms deaths per 100k
1968 2394 1.2
1970 2406 1.2
1975 2380 1.1
1980 1955 0.9
1985 1649 0.7
1990 1416 0.6
1995 1225 0.5
2000 776 0.3
2005 789 0.3
2010 606 0.2
2011 851 0.3

Source: CDC
I know there are about 3x as many guns in the country since 1968. hmm.

 

[aireyc]

You could have 5 trillion people in the world, and they'd say "30000 deaths due to guns is 30000 too many!!!!!"

 

[BigToe]

Didn't some guy just kill his wife with a hammer and attempt to kill himself because they were on welfare and he felt their lives were meaningless because they just watched TV all day?

Welfare kills people. We need to get rid of it.

 

[rascal]

Suicides in Japan are almost double ours and virtually none are done with guns.
There is no sober argument that gun control will reduce any suicides. It will simply move them from accomplished by gun to accomplished by another method.

as far as accidents, owing a weapon, hunting, target shooting etc are inherently dangerous activities. Hunting is a dangerous hobby just like surfing and a thousand other hobbies are. Gun accidents are a meaningless issue because so are many other activities, including many that are utterly unregulated and not protected by the constitution.

.IE suicides and almost all accidents have no valid place in the gun control agenda because almost al their victims are knowing participants. Despite that they are used all the time.

Murder is another story. victims are not willing participants. That said it is also not a valid counter argument to gun rights, since: a) gun ownership is a uniquely protected right; b) since virtually all murders are committed by personal already in the criminal class; c) since murder is falling as gun ownership has gone up; and d) since hundreds of thousands to millions of crimes are prevented by law abiding gun owners,

 

[teratos]

In the UK When they banned guns, the suicide rate did not change. They saw a change in the methods used. They saw more suicides by overdose and hanging, but the same number of people each year killed themselves.

 

[Threeband]

I read that a popular new method of suicide involves mixing a batch of poison gas, often in a tent out in the woods somewhere, sometimes in a room.

The more responsible ones set up a warning sign like "Warning! Deadly Gas! Do Not Enter! Call Police!"

But I think most don't bother. The result is many of the people who find the victims fall victim themselves to the deadly gas.



If you reduce suicide-by-gun, you will increase suicide-by-poison-gas, and thus you will increase accidental deaths among those discovering the suicides.

 

[teratos]

There are a few very simple, very effective, easily obtainable, and painless ways of bumping yourself off that very few people use. I will not mention them here. Where there is a will there is a way.

 

[Winterborn]

There are a few very simple, very effective, easily obtainable, and painless ways of bumping yourself off that very few people use. I will not mention them here. Where there is a will there is a way.

Get married?

Wait you said painless.....

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[shaakes]

Didn't some guy just kill his wife with a hammer and attempt to kill himself because they were on welfare and he felt their lives were meaningless because they just watched TV all day?

Welfare kills people. We need to get rid of it.

Kinda OT but trying to kill yourself with a hammer? I hope I'm reading that wrong or misunderstand, but damn!

 

[rascal]

I read that a popular new method of suicide involves mixing a batch of poison gas, often in a tent out in the woods somewhere, sometimes in a room.

The more responsible ones set up a warning sign like "Warning! Deadly Gas! Do Not Enter! Call Police!"

But I think most don't bother. The result is many of the people who find the victims fall victim themselves to the deadly gas.

If you reduce suicide-by-gun, you will increase suicide-by-poison-gas, and thus you will increase accidental deaths among those discovering the suicides.

Exactly. the preferred method in japan is mixing commonly available household chemicals. And lots of innocent third parties, neighbors, relatives who come to find out why you aren't answering your phone, are killed by a person using that method.

Scores of people in Japan and Korea are killed when a person committing suicide jumps on them!
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/girl-7-dies-suicide-jumper-lands-article-1.1353659

 

[jrumann59]

Yeah get called an insensitive ass when I say you cannot use the suicide by gun number in the number of gun deaths because those people would find another way to commit suicide and the all inclusive death number does not change.

 

[spclopr8tr]

Yeah get called an insensitive ass when I say you cannot use the suicide by gun number in the number of gun deaths because those people would find another way to commit suicide and the all inclusive death number does not change.

MD will be banning helium and plastic bags next. Cause you know helium and plastic bags kill people.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/06/us/new-york-life-coaches-suicide/index.html

 

[danb]

Exactly. the preferred method in japan is mixing commonly available household chemicals. And lots of innocent third parties, neighbors, relatives who come to find out why you aren't answering your phone, are killed by a person using that method.

Scores of people in Japan and Korea are killed when a person committing suicide jumps on them!
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/girl-7-dies-suicide-jumper-lands-article-1.1353659

Spend enough time in London, taking the subway, one day in the station you will hear a very serene female British voice in the background: "The trains are delayed because there is a person under the train." People do not even bat an eye.

 

[Waz]

MD will be banning helium and plastic bags next. Cause you know helium and plastic bags kill people.

you can still get them but they ship seperately and theres a backgroud check and 7 day waiting period for helium

 

[Mooseman]

I know that this is a little off the subject but, if you want to commit suicide, don't involve someone else. Why mess up someone else's life just because you want to end yours?

 

[comecamping]

I know that this is a little off the subject but, if you want to commit suicide, don't involve someone else. Why mess up someone else's life just because you want to end yours?

Very true.

 

[BDurk]

I nver understood why the antis bring up suicide in their arguments....a very complicated subject and they just interperate the statistics to siut their needs.

 

[rascal]

I nver understood why the antis bring up suicide in their arguments....a very complicated subject and they just interperate the statistics to siut their needs.

yes it takes at least a couple of minutes or a couple of paragraphs of text to explain and support why it is irrelevant. which is beyond the slogan sound bite tolerance of today's citizens.

Without it they are left with gun murder plummeting as gun ownership has increased and broadened, so the anti gun people have to use it.

 

[MDFF2008]

I nver understood why the antis bring up suicide in their arguments....a very complicated subject and they just interperate the statistics to siut their needs.

Very good way to solicit emotion. People who loose loved ones will forever be haunted by the questions what did they do wrong? What could they have done?

Allowing them to blame the gun "if we had gun control my loved one would still be alive" allows them a release and Bloomberg a new pawn.

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