Reading the Washington Post site this morning I saw this fact about gun related deaths in the US. I really had no idea.

White men, in fact, are the demographic most likely to oppose gun-control laws of any kind, although statistics show that they might benefit most from them.
That’s because the majority of the gun deaths in the United States are not homicides but suicides, and white men account for 74 percent of them. More than 288,000 white males fatally shot themselves between 1999 and 2018, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Having access to a gun substantially increases the risk of death by suicide. In other words, if white men didn’t have so many guns, they would be much less likely to die.

Nobody tell the NRA.

the majority of the gun deaths in the United States are not homicides but suicides,

Does that include “suicide by cop“?

Also a significant number of gun murders someone is killed with their own gun. Ie wave a gun around, have it taken off you and be shot with it or the burglers find the gun in your house

I don’t know. I’m sure you can find it online.

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That’s because the majority of the gun deaths in the United States are not homicides but suicides, and white men account for 74 percent of them.

The Freakenomics Podcast has a very good episode on this issue. Very, very good indeed in fact.

The Suicide Paradox (Ep. 40)

In brief – people who are underprivileged and unhappy externalise their anger and lash out at society, people who are privileged (white, male middle brow, middle age, middle income the kind of people who are seen to hold all the cards in western society)  – and unhappy can only internalise their anger as theres not really anyone to blame themselves. Homicides and suicides are two symptoms and two sides  of the same problem. Unequal societies are damaging to both the haves and the have-nots – the damage just looks different.

I read somewhere (may have been freakonomics) that the time between deciding to commit suicide and deciding that it’s a bad idea is generally very short (less than 10 minutes if I remember), successful suicide rates are much higher in countries that allow you to keep guns, because you have a means that you can use before you get to change your mind…

Americans and their guns are baffling.

They portray that the police are under constant assault by weapons and are required to fire back to save themselves and other citizens:

2019 – 44 officers died in the line of duty by firearms through felonious acts [FBI figures], 999 people killed by them with firearms [Washington Post police shooting data base]

If the guns weren’t there, a lot of people would still be me thinks.

A texan (of course) who I worked with showed me pictures of his arsenal (imagine 2 double beds covered in weapons).

When asked what he was so afraid of that he needed so much firepower, he seemed more worried that he would need to fight off a liberal led government that would try to come and take them off him.

Hunting, sports, Personal protection and home defence hardly entered into it.

I asked how he made sure his kids were safe with so many weapons in the house (the 3 kids were all under 10). He explained how by teaching them how the guns worked and how to shoot they could keep safe. FFS.

A bit like before natural gas we had coal gas, suicides by sticking your head in the oven reduced drastically, when we swapped over to eau natural.
Not in time to save my grandfather though, unfortunately I also inherited the curse of the black dog from the barmy bastard.

I read up on this a couple of years back. Something like two thirds of all shootings are self-inflicted, and guns account for 50% of all successful suicides.

I can’t remember exact figures but there’s a lot of “well, he was just cleaning his gun and…” type accidents. Being shot by toddlers is quite common too IIRC, in a not-quite-Darwin sort of way. Something like 20% of all gun injuries are accidental.

There’s a really good website for this, I’ll see if I can dig it back out.

2019 – 44 officers died in the line of duty by firearms through felonious acts [FBI figures], 999 people killed by them with firearms [Washington Post police shooting data base]

If the guns weren’t there, a lot of people would still be me thinks.

Come on – the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun

Clearly this shows the good guys are winning! Yay!

Hunting, sports, Personal protection and home defence hardly entered into it.

There is one, and only one, real reason that Americans have guns.

And that is, they really really like them.

Don’t overlook stupidity.

29-year-old Wesley Faulks and his friend, 28-year-old Tevin Pleas, were showing each other their new guns at Hidden Lake Apartments on Hidden Lakes Court in Macon just after 7:30 Wednesday night.

Deputies said Pleas thought he had cleared the gun, but it went off and hit Faulks in the eye. Faulks was taken to Medical Center Navicent Health where he pronounced dead just before 1:30 Thursday morning.

Got it.

Gun Violence Statistics

There is one, and only one, real reason that Americans have guns.

If I lived there, I’d have one. Ostensibly for defence, but I’m sure it would quickly become another expensive hobby.

No amount of regulation or banning will remove the guns and ammunition already in circulation, with no record as to who owns what. Its a very different system to us (pre-dunblane) and Australia.

Honestly, hunting is a respectable hobby if you hunt deer or ducks and eat them. It’s the most ethical way to eat meat.

successful suicide rates are much higher in countries that allow you to keep guns, because you have a means that you can use before you get to change your mind

Its why paracetamol comes in smaller packs and also why on some railway platforms they now have a fence between the two sides or small additional barriers on bridges. By slowing people down or making them step past something it gives a chance that the impulse may pass. There seems to be debate about how effective it is.

I think America’s relationship with privately held weaponry is baffling to everyone. Including most Americans.

Many years ago, i read some statistic or other, about how many Americans shoot themselves in the bath every year.
When I finally got internet, i googled something like ‘how many americans shoot themselves a year’
One of the top hits was ‘ishotmyself.com’
Which, as it turns out, is absolutely nothing to do with guns.
And, btw, it’s definitely NSFW!

It’s the most ethical way to eat meat.

Aside from cannibalism, obviously.

Its why paracetamol comes in smaller packs

actually with paracetamol its not so much deliberate suicide attempts and nobody really thinks of it as something that would kill you effectively (and its doesn’t really – if you took it deliberately to kill yourself you’d die very slowly with plenty of time to decide you don’t really want to die) A potentially fatal dose of paracetamol is about a pack and a half and you can buy two packs at a time.

The problem with paracetamol is people unwittingly taking a little bit too much a little too often over time. The majority of the people on the waiting list for liver transplants are people who’ve done just that – not people who’ve necked a whole bottle of them.

One of the top hits was ‘ishotmyself.com’

Back in the mid-90s, a colleague and I got a shared ISDN connection into work, complete with Internet 1.0. After a little while I figured it’d be a handy thing for Technical Support to have access to, for drivers and knowledgebase articles and the like. I raised this with the powers that be and a few days later we got an impromptu visit from the company owner and the MD. “Show us this ‘Internet’ thing then?”

Put on the spot and in the days long before Google, I opened up Mosaic and explained that a lot of companies have websites these days and you can usually find them with www.[companyname].com. I typed in Microsoft’s URL and their web site (slowly) appeared.

Emboldened, I carried on, “we’ve been having a lot of issues with DTK motherboards lately, let’s see if they have a website.” I typed www.dtk.com into the address bar and, in front of two devout Muslim gentlemen, at mid-90s Internet speeds, unfolded the “Dressed To Kill” rubber and fetishware website.

There was one of those moments of heavy silence that feels like a lifetime before the MD quietly said, “yes… I don’t think we’ll be getting that.”

@cougar
Lol
Yes, my ‘experience’ was at dialup speeds too.

Explains why their motherboards weren’t so good if they were spending all their company resource on specialist clothes.

Honestly, hunting is a respectable hobby if you hunt deer or ducks and eat them. It’s the most ethical way to eat meat.

Long as you only shoot at those things and make a clean kill every shot (and not hit any, say, mountain bikers that may pass by)

and c’mon mols – it’s the guns and you know it. I bet there’s not a hunter alive who doesn’t get a semi just over the idea of a gun. All that sexy killing power in the palms of your hands. Oooh, maybe I’ll just clean the barrel one more time…

And that is, they really really like them.

There’s actually nothing wrong with that.

If I lived over there, I’d love to go to a proper range and be taught how to shoot a variety of weapons.

I just wouldn’t want to see them outside of a secure range.

When asked what he was so afraid of that he needed so much firepower, he seemed more worried that he would need to fight off a liberal led government

The purpose of the Second Amendment was basically that, to allow the people to protect themselves against excesses by the federal government. “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed”.

The purpose of the Second Amendment was basically that, to allow the people to protect themselves against excesses by the federal government. “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed”.

They weren’t big fans of King George either, so I hear.

If I lived over there, I’d love to go to a proper range and be taught how to shoot a variety of weapons.

Oh, sure. I’d probably be the same. I’ve shot at ranges a few times over the years, it’s fun, and I’m a lapsed field archer (an elegant weapon for a more civilised age). Round ASDA, not so much.

It’s just a different mindset and it’s near-impossible for us Brits to comprehend it. It’s like kids today trying to understand a pre-Internet world, or describing cars to a third-world country.

I’ll give you an example. I was in London a couple of years back with a friend visiting from Chicago, walking over whatever the bridge is called next to Parliament. Suddenly from behind we hear blues and twos, a black BMW with a puncture haring down the bridge with plod in hot pursuit. “That’s a bit excessive for a puncture,” was my first thought. Then I realised all the tyres were out – christ, it’s been stingered! Then from in front of us a police van appeared, boxing the crippled beemer in. Quick as you like, one of the cops is out of their car, over to the BMW, the driver’s door is torn open and the cop had a handgun pointing in over the top of it.

What happened next is the difference between Brits and Americans when it comes to guns. I didn’t break pace, kept on walking, minding my own business whilst thinking “hmm, this is moderately interesting.” Steph literally grabs me by the wrist, screams “GUN DRAWN! GUN DRAWN!” and starts trying to drag me away apace. Meanwhile back at the scene a small crowd was forming, videoing the proceedings on their phones.

It was only afterwards that I thought, holy shit, that could actually have been really dangerous. Right outside Westminster too, he could well have had a bomb or something. It didn’t even cross my mind whereas in Steph’s world this is normal, there’s a very real chance that we’re about to get shot at and she instinctively ran for safety.

Last trip to US saw me off to a range for some hand gun practice. I only shoot at paper, regardless of weapon. I find it very relaxing, but the difference to me in holding a Glock 9mm, compared to a 22 rifle or Steyr air pistol cannot be over-stated.

I’m not in the least bit interested in guns btw, just the action of punching holes in paper from a distance. If I lived in the US I would not own a gun. My family are licensed to shoot deer, but I don’t care for it myself.