General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Suicides involving firearms are fatal 85% of the time, pills less than 3%. [View all]hack89
(39,181 posts)(which was New York's answer to Newtown) I am not sure that much can be done. And even that solution raises obvious patient privacy issues. Most suicides suffer in silence and never undergo treatment- how do you identify them and intervene? Few are chronically depressed/suicidal - most are perfectly fine when they purchase their guns. There is no way to look into the future and determine who will eventually commit suicide.
As for registering owners, unlike you I think that both the problem and the solution lies with people, not chunks of metal. An ID card would ensure that a gun owner has passed a background check and is eligible to purchase and own guns. It would also make closing the "gun show loophole" easier - no card no private sale. And if someone is deemed ineligible to own a gun then it will be easier to track him down.
Here are the FBI crime stats. These are the official US government crime statistics - they put out a report every year.
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s