Gun Culture May Contribute to Suicide Rate in Rural America

[petronius]

15. I don't think it's about demonizing so much as about education and awareness

There is a shocking lack of mental health support and resources in this country, especially in rural areas. But when it comes to suicide, there is evidence to suggest that suicide in many cases may be more impulsive and preventable than many people think - suicide survivors often don't try again, or don't make another attempt if balked in their first plan, or report the initial suicidal thoughts only very shortly before the attempt. So making people aware of ways to recognize depression, and of relatively simple ways to discourage the act like locking up firearms, is extremely valuable.

A big difficulty when it comes to firearms, though, is disentangling the policy side from the awareness side. I always think that the real message of articles like this, and all those 'a gun in the house makes you a jillion times more likely to shoot your mom' studies is that individuals need to pay attention to risks and opportunities to reduce them, and that gun owners should make careful assessments of the risk/reward structure in their own personal situations. Unfortunately, those findings too often get spun into support for firearms restrictions. and so the useful stuff gets lost in the noise.

The therapists in the OP report that a '2A' response is common when they suggest locking up guns - that implies that there could be real value in developing a way of communicating that message in a way that doesn't suggest gun control advocacy...