6 ms·

Surely the real problem here, to my non-American eyes, is having easy access to a firearm, no?

telotortium 3y ago
Pretty easy to hang yourself too.
curtis3389 3y ago
It is certainly part of the problem, but it's not the root cause. Yes. Access to and knowledge of firearms dramatically increases the lethality of suicide attempts. But in this case, the kid was scammed for nudes and then blackmailed with them. Without easy access to guns, he could have survived the suicide attempt, but there's no guarantee. The root cause has more to do with childhood, internet access, and maybe even parent-child relationships.
tmdyn 3y ago
To this American's eyes, not mentioning that at all is a glaring omission. I recognize they might not want to in the story of the representative's son (as it might come across as blaming the parents in a recent tragedy) but even though it's for sure relevant in the aggregate.
- xboxnolifes 3y ago
  It's the third sentence...
halostatue 3y ago
This is a yes-and situation (that is, the issues are orthogonal). There are several similar stories where firearms access is not a factor (Amanda Todd is one of the most well-known, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_of_Amanda_Todd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_of_Amanda_Todd). Various social media networks are implicated as factors.
xboxnolifes 3y ago
I've always found this reasoning insane. People are in a position where they want, or feel it's the only option, to kill themselves. And someone suggests the problem is access to the ability to do so, rather than what lead them to feel that way? Guns, drugs, knifes, rope, exhaust, whatever. These always become the focus when a kid kills themselves. How about the circumstances that led to it? Suicide is still a problem is low gun ownership countries.
- theGnuMe 3y ago
  Guns are more lethal and result in more successful suicide when an attempt is made. So yes access to guns is a problem. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/magazine/magazine_article/guns-suicide/ https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/magazine/magazine_article/guns-...
dudul 3y ago
Maybe you should open your eyes a bit more then https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_of_Amanda_Todd https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_of_Amanda_Todd https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_of_Tyler_Clementi https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_of_Tyler_Clementi Teenagers don't need a gun to kill themselves. This is not the issue at hands here.
jevoten 3y ago
To add to the sibling comments, Japan has very restrictive gun laws [1], but a suicide rate (12.2) similar to the US (14.5) [2]. Let me add that I find the instinct to restrict personal freedom as the very first measure very disturbing. As if the loss of freedom is not a harm in itself. More pragmatically, how many people will admit to being suicidal, if the immediate consequence is being locked in a padded room without so much as a shoelace? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overview_of_gun_laws_by_nation#Japan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overview_of_gun_laws_by_nation... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_r...

Pretty easy to hang yourself too.

It is certainly part of the problem, but it's not the root cause. Yes. Access to and knowledge of firearms dramatically increases the lethality of suicide attempts. But in this case, the kid was scammed for nudes and then blackmailed with them. Without easy access to guns, he could have survived the suicide attempt, but there's no guarantee. The root cause has more to do with childhood, internet access, and maybe even parent-child relationships.

tmdyn 3y ago

To this American's eyes, not mentioning that at all is a glaring omission. I recognize they might not want to in the story of the representative's son (as it might come across as blaming the parents in a recent tragedy) but even though it's for sure relevant in the aggregate.

xboxnolifes 3y ago
It's the third sentence...

halostatue 3y ago

This is a yes-and situation (that is, the issues are orthogonal). There are several similar stories where firearms access is not a factor (Amanda Todd is one of the most well-known, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_of_Amanda_Todd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_of_Amanda_Todd). Various social media networks are implicated as factors.

xboxnolifes 3y ago

I've always found this reasoning insane. People are in a position where they want, or feel it's the only option, to kill themselves. And someone suggests the problem is access to the ability to do so, rather than what lead them to feel that way? Guns, drugs, knifes, rope, exhaust, whatever. These always become the focus when a kid kills themselves. How about the circumstances that led to it? Suicide is still a problem is low gun ownership countries.

theGnuMe 3y ago
Guns are more lethal and result in more successful suicide when an attempt is made. So yes access to guns is a problem. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/magazine/magazine_article/guns-suicide/ https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/magazine/magazine_article/guns-...

dudul 3y ago

Maybe you should open your eyes a bit more then https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_of_Amanda_Todd https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_of_Amanda_Todd https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_of_Tyler_Clementi https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_of_Tyler_Clementi Teenagers don't need a gun to kill themselves. This is not the issue at hands here.

jevoten 3y ago

To add to the sibling comments, Japan has very restrictive gun laws [1], but a suicide rate (12.2) similar to the US (14.5) [2]. Let me add that I find the instinct to restrict personal freedom as the very first measure very disturbing. As if the loss of freedom is not a harm in itself. More pragmatically, how many people will admit to being suicidal, if the immediate consequence is being locked in a padded room without so much as a shoelace? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overview_of_gun_laws_by_nation#Japan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overview_of_gun_laws_by_nation... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_r...