An interesting study was recently released that shows the majority of deaths from firearms in 2005 were suicides, not murder or self defense. Something that has been the norm for quite some time.

Quote:

Suicide rate highest among gun owners By Mike Stobbe ATLANTA - 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 Daily Texan

There is a lot of talk from gun ownership proponents who speak of the right to self defense, yet the exercise of that right is statistically insignificant. (This is incorrect, firearms are used for defense by crime victims at an annual rate of about 10-15%; based on criminal justice data from 1987-1992--the first data I found.)

If there is a gun in your house, it is more likely that it will be used by someone in your house to kill themselves, including you, or in a crime, than it is to be used to defend someone.

My suggestion to gun owners, keep those trigger locks in place, the gun safes locked, and seek treatment for anyone with depression.

-edited to correct a misstatement/AA

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"Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear."

"An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens."

-Thomas Jefferson

As for the suicides, well, they are tragic. But absent a gun, people can and do kill themselves. Blaming the implement is simply a way of avoiding blaming the individual.

Matt

{edited to remove reply to self-defense stats, as OP has corrected the comment}

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De duobus malis, minus est semper eligendum

I'm so fascinated by the gun culture in America. There are something like 11,000 shootings in America every year, so far above the average for other industrialized nations. But there aren't more guns in America than in say Canada or in European countries. So what gives? Are there more Americans who live in fear and that's why they act out? Is it the American notion of taking justice in to one's hands? But the gun crimes aren't out of self defense usually, and are mostly intended for other people. There have been school shootings and public shootings in other countries, but the frequency of them in America is astounding. So many questions and no easy answers.

That isn't even close to true. You're paraphrasing the Kellerman study which has been completely discredited by even the very author.

Even if it WERE correct, it ultimately doesn't matter, as the intentional misuse of a gun is in no way protected by the 2nd Amendment.

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In case you were wondering, yes, there really ARE more idiots these days....technology has made natural selection obsolete.

Therein lies the problem with statistics. Real life situations are more like fractals, statistics only capture actual occurrences and try to extrapolate possible ones. Home many times have you heard a poll that reflects your views?

Yet instruments of death are used more frequently in criminal acts upon victims, than they are used to defend victims from criminal acts. Though I guess the argument would be to increase gun ownership, then maybe more criminals would be killed in acts of defense, than victims of crime.

The logic makes my head spin

Maybe we should just give every newborn a handgun.

__________________
"Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear."

"An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens."

-Thomas Jefferson

From your source on defensive use of firearms above:

So, from your opening article we have, give or take, 31,000 deaths by firearms in a given year, over half of which are suicides.

Versus an average of 83,000 defensive uses per year.

Or, around 6 defensive uses per death caused by a criminal act.

It seems your claim that "instruments of death are used more frequently in criminal acts upon victims, than they are used to defend victims from criminal acts" is way off.

Matt

{edited to clean up a typo in the figures}

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De duobus malis, minus est semper eligendum

Maybe you should just learn to read. Your own source in the OP discounts your position.

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In case you were wondering, yes, there really ARE more idiots these days....technology has made natural selection obsolete.

Wow! I guess now we'll have to outlaw sleeping pills, antidepressants, etc. because of intentional overdoses...or outlaw knives to prevent people from slitting their wrists....

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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming "WOO HOO, What a Ride!"

We could call it the "War on Suicide". And with the gov't expanding faster than a black hole, we ought to nominate someone to be the Suicide czar.

Why so many gun deaths in homicides? Would these crimes happen anyway if it weren't for the guns? I'm not trying to subvert responsibility, but what I mean is, a gun gives you instant respect, right, just like how a nuke gives you instand respect if you're a nation. But take the nuke away, and there's a pretty good chance you won't use the rest of your arsenal. Like Iran. They don't have a nuke and Israel has many nukes. Therefore, Iran will continue to be pesky and talk tough, but they know that if they ever did anything to Israel, Israel would has the might to wreak some pretty good damage on Iran.

So in relation to the average 11,000 or so gun homicides in America every year, if people had a much tighter access to guns, would they pick up knives or baseball bats or other things to get done what they wanted to get done?

Yea, early morning post syndrome, the more I look at the data, the less sense my post makes.

__________________
"Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear."

"An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens."

-Thomas Jefferson

Actually, I wouldn't mind a ban on knives in public areas (which could just be a cultural difference - knives are far more of a reality in my life than guns.) I think they're more dangerous than guns. But in the issue of guns, surely there are better arguments for gun control than people killing themselves who would have done it anyway with some other method?

In fairness, there is much more sensationalization of the actual gun violence, while defensive use gets minimized.

One has to dig for it a bit.

Matt

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De duobus malis, minus est semper eligendum

Well, I support the right to suicide, so that includes guns.

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"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God."
Matthew 5:9

Now that the Supreme Court has ruled that the government can't ban guns altogether, I believe we can remove the word "outlaw" from our discussions along these lines. Right? Nobody's talking about "outlawing" guns (or sleeping pills, etc.). That would be unconstitutional. Well, maybe not the sleeping pills . . . Anyway, there's been enough paranoid knee-jerking from the gun culture on the subject of "outlawing" guns, which was never going to happen because the political will didn't exist, but now that we know for sure that's not going to happen perhaps we can achieve a greater degree of rationality. You think?

The question is not one of law but one of wisdom. Is it a good idea to keep a gun in your house? Sure, you've got a legal right to do it; you've got a legal right to stay drunk all the time, too, but that doesn't make it smart.

The ease with which a gun can be used to kill oneself, or to kill a family member if one is messed up or really pissed off, argues against it being a good idea. A man can have a perfect grasp of gun safety procedures and be in very little danger of killing anyone accidentally, but then he finds out his wife is cheating on him with his best friend. What does he do?

Hopefully, he either works it out and forgives her or he divorces her peacefully. But even someone who ultimately does that is going to feel, at least briefly, the powerful desire to kill her -- or her lover -- or himself -- or all three. The great majority of homicides are of this nature, not involving professional criminals at all.

Say he decides to off the bitch. He'll regret it later, and given time to think he'll change his mind. He's not a monster. But right now, he wants her dead. There are lots of ways he could do it. He could do it with a kitchen knife, or a baseball bat, or a hammer, or even his bare hands. Or, if he has one, he could do it with a gun.

Let's say he doesn't have a gun. The decision is made to kill his wife. He goes into the kitchen, pulls out a big butcher knife, and goes after her. She sees him coming. She runs for the door. Does she make it, or does he plunge that knife into her back before she can get out? Seeing her running for the door, does he stick with his anger long enough to stab her to death before she makes it out, or do second thoughts prompt him to hesitate, letting her go? Uncertain. Could go either way.

If he has a gun, though, he's more likely to pull that, click off the safety, and go after her. Less likely she'll make it to the door. Less chance he'll have second thoughts as she runs, because it's quicker and easier to pull a trigger than it is to stab someone. That's why a gun is better than a knife for home defense, and the same reason applies to murder.

Remember, now, the court has spoken, so nobody's talking about taking anyone's legal right to own firearms away. The only question here is this: given that you have the right to have a gun, is it really a good idea? I was married for ten years to a violent woman, someone who regularly tried to beat me up. Mostly we're just talking punches and kicks, but on a couple of instances she picked up something handy and threw it at me.

We never had a gun in the house. I am alive to write this message, and she is out of prison, for that reason. I'm quite certain of it.

If one does not think it a "good idea" to keep a firearm, then one should not. I fully respect that right of each of us.

Matt

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De duobus malis, minus est semper eligendum