Paragraphs the natural enemy of the wall of text are your friend. - Neither side of the debate is changing their mind, this is not something that is just an affliction of one side. Though we can all be civil and listen and respond kindly. - Using fear to promote your cause is again not an affliction of one side, the whole premise of having a gun for home safety is based on fear of baddies. - Biased media pouncing on stories to sell is not an affliction of one side, see article posted about neighbour using gun to knock out intruder. It isn't a bad idea when it come to self reflection to consider every time you refer to someone on the left or the right as a "gun nut" or a liberal "whacko" "gun banner" etc etc, that you are just as bad as the extremist from the other side.
The real problem is how Gun Ban Advocates operate. They do not tell the truth. You have Millions of Gun owners, many with concealed carry licenses and spotless backgrounds. You also have people with long juvenile criminal histories of petty crimes, shoplifting small time theft etc.... These people graduate to more serious crimes, Illegal Drugs, Gangs, Murder...... The Gun Ban advocate claims all Guns are a problem, and this is not true, people that do not respect laws and sell illegal Drugs and join Gangs and kill each other in Gang turf wars and rivalries are the real problem. The Gun ban advocates knowing all the facts want to restrict Law Abiding citizens Right to bear Arms ? And you wonder why people call Gun ban advocates crude names ??? Intense frustration when you see Gun ban advocates lump everyone together, criminals and law abiding. I should be a hypocrite, as a Retired LEO, I have National carry, am exempt from lots of petty rules etc. I got mine etc etc.... However, I want all law abiding citizens to have the same, make only criminals subject to rules and penalties.
So one side is employing dastardly evil tactics whilst the other side is a beacon of righteousness and transparent operation?
yep that is pretty much it. we gun advocates like freedom, we like the shooting sports and hunting, and having the ability to defend ourselves. we have the writings of the founders and the words of the constitution. we don't have to hide our view and our motivations. the gun banners do. they have to sell their hatred of our culture with BS claims that they merely want to infringe on our rights for PUBLIC SAFETY (or worse) FOR THE CHILDREN. if they came out and told people what really motivated them, they would lose most of their support
So there aren't any unarmed felons? How do criminals get the guns, then? The study provided evidence that the "means matter". Guns present both a convenient and largely fool-proof means. So if someone is feeling especially down, they can act in that moment, rather than having time to reconsider or a second chance. This is reflected in the stats which show a significantly higher proportion of successful suicides in households with guns.
Felons are armed with a laundry list of improvised weapons, from clubs to knives to guns. They have been known to make their own guns, to steal them from police and National Guard armories (did you see the story of the FBI agent who left his equipment bag, with his sidearm and a select-fire carbine in it, in an unlocked vehicle, and oh, heavens, it got STOLEN??), and yes, sometimes they steal guns from honest citizens. More often is they get one from the pool of firearms felons often maintain so they can loan out guns to their felonious brethren. This has been debunked so many times it's not even funny. The most effective means of suicide is actually to throw yourself off of a tall building, or there is a growing incidence of suffocation suicides. Either way, our suicide rate over all is no higher than the international average, and far lower than many nations where private ownership of firearms is forbidden.
Those that seek further limits on the ight to keep and bear arms can and do only argue with fallacious appeals to emotion, ignorance and/or dishonesty, as seen ion this (and any number of other) board every day. Is that evil? No. Is that unsound? Yes.
Has such ever been stated, even once? https://d3uwh8jpzww49g.cloudfront.net/sharedmedia/1508093/ccjstudy.pdf As documented below, survey evidence provides strong evidence that the gun market is sharply differentiated by the characteristics of the individual who is seeking a gun. Adults who are entitled to possess a gun are more likely than not to buy from an FFL. On the other hand, those who are disqualified by age or criminal history are most likely to obtain their guns in off-the-books transactions, often from social connections such as family and acquaintances, or from “street” sources such as illicit brokers or drug dealers. While some of these illicit transactions are purchases, they also take a variety of other forms. The results can be briefly summarized. The state prisoner survey is largest and is the focus here, although it is reassuring that the results from the other two surveys are similar. First, it is rare for offenders to obtain their guns directly from the formal market: Only 10% of recently incarcerated state prison inmates who carried a gun indicate that they purchased that gun from a licensed dealer (gun store or pawnbroker). Rather, most of the transactions (70%) are with social connections (friends and family) or with “street” sources. The latter may include fences, drug dealers, brokers who sell guns, and gangs. It should be noted that “street” sources are not necessarily strangers — the survey questionnaire does not ask. Cash purchases and trades constitute about half of all transactions. About one in six are temporary arrangements involving a gun owned by someone else, and take the form of borrowing, renting, or holding the gun. Perhaps surprisingly, one in ten guns are gifts — but gifting of guns is also quite common in the population at large. Finally, the respondent admits to having stolen the gun in only a small fraction of cases, so it appears that theft is of scant importance as an immediate source of guns to gang members — despite the fact that there are something like 250,000 guns reported stolen each year in the U.S. (Langton, 2012). It should be noted that theft may play a greater role at an earlier stage of moving guns from the licit to the illicit sector. All three periodic surveys of inmates are restricted to adults age 18 and over. There are no nationally representative surveys of juvenile offenders, although several surveys of convenience samples have been conducted (Sheley and Wright, 1993; Pelucio et al., 2011; Watkins et al., 2008 ). Juveniles must obtain their guns almost entirely from social connections and other informal sources, possibly including their own household (if adults in the household keep guns). There is suggestive evidence that guns turn over quickly among juvenile offenders (Cook et al., 1995) and that juveniles are likely to obtain their first gun from a family member, but subsequent guns from acquaintances (Webster et al., 2002). If you have any evidence that proves conclusively, beyond reasonable doubt, that those with concealed carry permits are having their firearms stolen right out of their hands, and their holsters, then post such. Otherwise the notion is absolutely nothing more than mere speculation on your part. The obvious question of "so what" must be asked with regard to the above. What ultimate, meaningful difference does such make? Why does it matter if firearms are more successful or better preferred for the purpose of committing suicide than other available means?
Because they all say; Shucks, there is Gun control, I can't get a Gun, so I can't commit suicide, or rob people, a bank etc....... Nobody will try an alternate easier method, like Hanging ?