Gun Deaths Are Mostly Suicides

[edgineered]

64. The manner of suicide is a personal choice.

Long ago the act of suicide became acceptable to me as well as what methods could be used. The things I would never do have leaving a mess for someone else to clean up and activities that directly affect others, such as jumping into traffic or in front of a train, and indirectly such as having someone witness it. I do not own a firearm yet can legal purchase one at any time. There is not a single friend of mine who would not trust me with one, and at any given time I can have one within seconds or minutes. That being said, even though I no longer hunt, target shoot, or keep my skills sharp, if I decided to nothing would stop me.

Don't get me wrong, I do not have suicidal tendencies, but sometimes doing so is the best solution; case in point - at some very specific times during my military service I would kill myself before capture by an enemy. In those case death by shooting myself would have applied, those days are long gone. It would be less than honest not to recognize that there are events in the real lives of each of us where suicide is the least painful option for oneself and/or others. It is not strictly about guns anymore than it is strictly about mental health.