sensible gun control

[maxsolomon]

73. Nonsense like your 95% guess? Or nonsense like your 1st paragraph?

I don't, and have never, contended that far fewer guns in the hands of the public would eliminate those 20K gun suicides. It would reduce them - by more than 5%. You're arguing that the gun is essentially never a factor in the decision to kill oneself.

Anecdotally, the 2 recent suicides I have known both killed themselves with firearms (handgun, rifle), and their families and friends had no idea they were contemplating it. That jibes with this article that I remember reading in 2013: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/sunday-review/suicide-with-no-warning.html

But here's contrasting research, though not exclusive to firearm suicides: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2597102/

So, you seem like a smart guy. Show me something that backs up your 1st paragraph's contention: "in the absence of a gun every single person who is suicidal will still commit suicide. Not a single person says, "hey, I own a gun....I think I'll kill myself (or someone else)"...it just doesn't happen."

The point is: absent quick and efficient means (a firearm in the home), suicidal impulses often pass.