1) Making things a little more difficult for legitimate owners (and
criminals,
too) will discourage some, and raise a persistence requirement to
possess
weapons. The higher the persistence and planning barriers, the more
likely at
least some mentally ill people will not be able to successfully carry
out their
destruction.
You're either uninformed or delusional,
if you think making things more difficult for law abiding citizens also makes
them harder for criminals. Tightening gun control laws will have almost zero
impact on criminals except to give them more business via a black market.
Secondly, you've not given one authoritative figure that making it
harder to legally obtain a gun will make it harder for these killers. Many of
the ones that have hit the news were not using legally obtained guns. Making it
harder to get a gun *may* make it harder for some, but there is no evidence to
support that claim.
Thirdly your sister is simply in denial. Someone
determined to commit suicide *will* do it. Just look at the figures. Finland,
Sweden, and Austria, all have much more restrictive gun laws than the US and
have considerably higher suicide rates. You simply don't understand the
mechanics of the depressed mind to think something as silly as gun control will
prevent suicides. It's the epitome of delusional behaviour. Being someone who
has often been at the edge of that cliff, I can say unequivocally you're bonkers
if you think gun control can prevent suicides. When I say I have been at the
edge of that cliff, I mean that I can describe in great detail the dozens of
ways I've planned my own, many times over many decades. Someday, I probably
will, but that day will not be today. It is my friends and family that keep me
going. Someday that scale may tip. Or not. And please don't now direct me to get
psychological care. Been there. Done with that. No help, and the drugs don't
work with me. [ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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