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vlad76 ,
@vlad76@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

I don’t think guns are to blame for boys wanting to kill themselves. Maybe there’s some issue with how we treat them? Ever consider that?

alyaza OP Mod ,
@alyaza@beehaw.org avatar

i’m going to remove your comment because i severely doubt you read this entire article in two minutes and this seems like a driveby that’s not engaging with the content at all, but with respect to “I don’t think guns are to blame for boys wanting to kill themselves” you are patently false. access to firearms is quite literally the most important variable, because it makes a person significantly more likely to kill themselves[^1]–a correlation between ownership and suicide is particularly established among men specifically. see for example Firearm Ownership and Suicide Rates Among US Men and Women, 1981–2013, which concludes:

Conclusions. We found a strong relationship between state-level firearm ownership and firearm suicide rates among both genders, and a relationship between firearm ownership and suicides by any means among male, but not female, individuals.

if you want a lower rate of male suicide, literally the single most effective policy to that end is less firearm ownership, and lessened access to guns generally. see Firearms and Suicide in the United States: Is Risk Independent of Underlying Suicidal Behavior? in particular, which notes that:

In the United States, where firearms are the method used in more than 50% of all suicides and where roughly 1 in 3 homes contains firearms, even small relative declines in the use of firearms in suicide acts could result in large reductions in the number of suicides, depending on what, if any, method would be substituted for firearms. Consider, for example, the fact that more than 90% of all suicidal acts with firearms are fatal, but suicidal acts with firearms constitute only 5% of all deliberate self-harm episodes. In contrast, fewer than 3% of all suicidal acts with drugs or cutting are fatal but, as a group, such acts constitute approximately 90% of all attempts (33, 34). If even 1 in 10 of the approximately 22,000 persons who attempted suicide with firearms in 2010 (the 19,932 who died and the approximately 2,000 who survived) substituted drugs or cutting, there would have been approximately 1,900 fewer suicide deaths.

[^1]: or harm another person close to them. specific citations are: “Gun Ownership as a Risk Factor for Homicide in the October 7, 1993; “Suicide in the Home in Relation to Gun Ownership,” by Arthur L. Kellermann et al., in New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 327, No. 7; August 13, 1992; “Homicide and Suicide Risks Associated with Firearms in the Home: A National Case-Control Study,” by Douglas J. Wiebe, in Annals of Emergency Medicine, Vol 41, No. 6; June 2003

sadreality ,

Way to miss the point champ...

This ain't about young men for you, this is about gun control and you are using this tragedy as vector of attack.

Disgusting tbh

alyaza OP Mod ,
@alyaza@beehaw.org avatar

This ain’t about young men for you, this is about gun control and you are using this tragedy as vector of attack.

the biggest disservice you can do to men in the US and their high rate of suicide is to pretend that the rate has nothing to do with the prevalence of guns in this country and the normalization of irresponsible firearm ownership (especially by men). i would go so far as to say it is actively pro-male suicide to take such a position because of how well established the causal links here are.

sadreality ,

This is a social issue, not a gun policy issue.

Idiot parents not securing their weapons are the key culprit... Can minor even purchase a gun?

alyaza OP Mod ,
@alyaza@beehaw.org avatar

Idiot parents not securing their weapons are the key culprit… Can minor even purchase a gun?

even in this narrow window, you are literally describing why it is a gun policy issue and not just a social issue. there is no obligation or requirement to securely store firearms, meaning it’s often quite trivial for young people, the impulsive, or people who otherwise would not have access to a firearm to illicitly acquire them and do harm to themselves or others with them. this could be made much harder with some fairly common-sense regulations, but even those are fought against in this country even though they’re pretty normal in other countries.

sadreality ,

Hold the dead kid's parents accountable for it.

sadreality , (edited )

For example in NC:

It is unlawful to store or leave a firearm that can be discharged in a manner that a reasonable person should know is accessible to a minor.

https://www.ncleg.net/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bysection/chapter_14/gs_14-315.1.html

Is this not enough? What regulation do you think would inspired brain dead parents to be more responsible?

vlad76 ,
@vlad76@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

Oh boy, I see I’m back on Reddit.

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