Guns And Suicide Research Paper

Since 1982, at least sixty-two mass shootings have occurred, thirty-two of them since 2006. (Aronsen). Jared Loughner was sentenced to life in prison after shooting nineteen people in January of 2011. Last July, fifty-eight people were shot and twelve killed while watching the new Batman movie in a theater in Colorado. In December, twenty-six people were murdered, including twenty first-graders, in a Connecticut elementary school (Follman). The issue of gun violence only becomes relevant after a horrific event such as these, then fades from public concern after about two weeks. The number of injuries and murders using guns in the United States is a large number, which can hopefully be

I read the article “The Association Between State Laws Regulating Handgun Ownership and Statewide Suicide Rates”. I have found that in 2010, suicide by a hand gun was ranked tenth in the U.S. for cause of death. The data supported that states with stricter laws on having a hand gun had less suicide rates then the other states who didn’t have strict laws on owning a hand gun. The data also gave an overall ideal that the states with stricter gun laws had more attempts of suicide (Anestis, 2015). This article was written with the intent to influence voters to pass new laws on gun control to prevent as many suicides as possible.

A counter-argument to private citizens owning firearms is that they are a major contributor to suicide worldwide. In an international study conducted by Professor Martin

Research shows that whether attempters live or die depends in large part on the ready availability of firearms. A study by the Harvard School of Public Health of all 50 U.S. states reveals a powerful link between rates of firearm ownership and suicides. Based on a survey of American households conducted in 2002, it was found that in states where guns were prevalent—as in Wyoming, where 63 percent of households reported owning guns—rates of suicide were higher. The inverse was also true: where gun ownership was less common, suicide rates were also lower ( Harvard). Many lives could be saved if firearms weren't so accessible. The American government needs to adopt policies that would keep guns out of the hands of vulnerable adults and

Gun law advocates argue that gun control laws diminish the amount of weaponry in the streets, and, by extension, in the hands of criminals. Likewise, gun control will diminish suicide. There were 464,033 total gun deaths between 1999 and 2013: 270,237 suicides (58.2% of total deaths); 174,773 homicides (37.7%); and 9,983 unintentional deaths (2.2%) (CDC, 2014). If perhaps, one of these families had a surviving brother or sister, mother or father, due to the current policies, it is worth enacting change. It is inhuman to allow people to die by firearms when they could simply be banned. In light of the recent mass shootings, families are left with the lingering wonder as to whether these national tragedies could be prevented. Criminals can easily

Every day in America 32 people are killed by guns whether it’s murder, suicide, or an accidental shooting. And American people have been scared for so long after hearing every month of another mass shooting somewhere. Their first thought, “ban the guns, they kill people.” Guns have never taken the life of an individual and it will not solve our problems of mass shootings by banning guns, it will only make law-abiding citizens unprotected in a dangerous society.

Firearms provide a significant increase in gun-related deaths. According to Matthew Miller and David Hemenway, directors of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center at the Harvard School of Public Health in their essay called “The Availability of Guns Increase the Risk of Suicide,” they said that

A shocking 11% of teenagers suffer from depression in the US, with 14% having suicidal thoughts and 7% attempting it. By having easy to access guns, teenagers have a much higher chance of finding and using a gun on themselves. When asked, the majority of people who were about to commit suicide had second thoughts after being unable to find an easy access method that didn’t require much thought or lengthy pain, for example hanging themselves. Comparing the percentage of suicide by guns to Australia, a country that changed their regulations on guns in the last twenty years and now has a 35% decrease in gun suicide since this law change presents the clear evidence that restricting guns will reduce the number of suicides

Although, many Americans believe they have the right to bear arms and use guns for protection. According to the article, “American deaths in terrorism vs. gun violence in one graph” the author Julia Jones states “The prevalence of guns go a long way toward explaining America’s terrible record – they are used in two – thirds of all murders. This demonstrates, guns are the most common weapons that are used in most of all the murders that are occurring. Due to the fact that guns are the most common weapons, it makes the United States have a horrible record. According to the same article “American deaths in terrorism vs. gun violence in one graph” states guns play a large role in suicides too. The article, also states that in 2013; 21,175 Americans killed themselves with guns, while 11,208 were killed by others. This means, people buy guns to take their lives away without a hesitation. This also means, people die no matter with a gun, either they commit suicide or someone kills them. As shown above, there wouldn’t be so many gun attacks and suicides if stronger gun control laws should be

Imagine heartbreak, loved ones dying, and losing hope. This has transpired for many in America today, all because of gun violence. It has become a great problem for our society in recent years. Data from Every Town Research has shown In their article Gun Violence by the Numbers “...that on an average day, 93 Americans are killed with guns...For every one person killed, two are injured” Many will deny that gun violence is a dilemma, but it is. Most do not realize this but, over 62% of the deaths are suicide, and just over 1,642 people killed by gun violence were unintended. There is something very wrong here, and something needs to change quickly. If so many of these deaths are incidental, and suicides; There is clearly a correlation between something in our society today, and the terribly high rates of suicide which need to be addressed. I contend we need to get out there and instruct our youth, and adults on how to handle situations with a gun. Additionally, we should discover what is causing so many to feel as if suicide is the only way out of the pain, and suffering from a long unsatisfactory life.

Too many Americans die due to firearms. “New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof this past summer wrote an impassioned call for gun control that included a recounting of horrific gun-related statistics. Since 1968, he noted, more people have died from guns in the U.S. than on the battlefields of all the wars in American history combined” (“Technology” -Gralla 6). This country is supposed to

It is way too easy for a gun to fall into the wrong hands. Gun control topic is very controversial, however, half of us believe that guns should be allowed in society and the other half believe that they should be completely banned. I believe it is important for citizens to own a firearm for protection. In the event that someone is threatening your life, a gun is a critical means of defense. Although I feel this way I want to emphasize that not all citizens are in the proper condition to own a firearm. This is where the topic of gun control gets kind of complicated and this is where I believe America messed up by allowing the purchase of guns

Somewhere around the world somebody just got shot. Somewhere else somebody just got stabbed to death. Some people would have been affected more by the death by gun because a decent amount around the world dump a lot of hatred towards guns and gun owners. It seems that guns have always received the most attention and concern from citizens, for years. They have been either hated or loved by the citizens of the United States since before the colonial days. They are not a bad mechanism for people to use; they are just, occasionally, misused or put into the wrong hands, that is how it is with every weapon. Many Americans, actually, honor this tool and have for centuries because guns are quite a big part of American history. It was a big enough part of history for the Founding Fathers of America to include it in one of the original ten Bill of Rights. Unfortunately, a part of the nation misuse the right given to citizens from the Second Amendment for things like murder. This has caused a good amount of people to believe gun use is the cause of the majority of deaths and the basis of crime, but these beliefs have been proven not true from various collections of studies and data. Guns are not as bad as they seem, and they should not be taken away or restricted harshly because they were trusted by the Founding Fathers of the United States and protected by the Second Amendment, are not one of the leading causes of all deaths and crimes in America, and taking them away will just stir

Suicide is one leading cause of death in the United States; thousands of people commit suicide or attempt it each year. Firearms is one method people use to commit suicide, and gun control is a way to reduce it. Different types of organizations want to place gun control policies because it could reduce gun violence. The policies will restrict ownership of a gun and purchasing of a gun. Now there are laws that involve with gun control in every state. Andres (2011) found, there are laws that won’t sell guns to people with a bad history, sale of certain guns, and gun trafficking . According to Andres (2011), prohibitions related to mental illness, a drug or alcohol problem, or history of domestic violence problems may linked to suicide prevention.

Typically, firearms are divided into two categories, there are handguns and long guns. Handguns are firearms such as pistols that are designed to be held and fired with one hand. The most common types of handguns are single shot handguns, revolvers, and semiautomatics (Saferstein, 2016, p. 192-193). All handguns can be classified as either single action or