In the United States, private ownership of handguns ought to be banned.

First of all, my opponent says that the information from the Violence Policy Center is unreliable, however they get this claim from a website called "justfacts". Does this sound reliable to you, voters? I will now defend my case. My opponent says that the pdf mentioned in my case doesn't mention handguns, but in the sentence right after that he says that it does show deaths with handguns. Pretty contradictory. Also, my opponent mentions that knives, drowning, fire, and fists are also used to kill, but do these amount to the total homicides by handguns? No, they don't, in fact even the numbers my opponent brings up show that handguns kill much more than any other weapon. Also, do you use handguns for any other purpose besides shooting? No. You drink water to live, and cook with fire to help with life. The argument brought up by my opponent is ludicrous at best. My opponent says that my statistics on handgun suicide are just from a single state, and yes, they are. However, California is just a single example of suicide with handguns. My opponent also says that there is no current evidence for handgun suicide. This is completely false. According to the NY times, "More than 60 percent of people in this country who die from guns die by suicide. ", and according to Newsweek, "Gun suicide has a completion rate of 85 percent. " This is because of the previously explained easy access to the handgun. Guns make suicide too easy. Public health experts say ready access to firearms makes it easier for people to act on suicidal thoughts. And about 85 percent of suicide attempts that involve guns are successful, compared with less than 3 percent of those involving drug overdoses. Over all, guns were used in about half of the 41,000 suicides in 2013, according to the New York Times. My opponent also brings up very contradictory evidence within Missouri. They said that "after the permits were declined by the state, suicide rate went up". This proves my point. Gun regulations were declined, which means more people had guns, so more people committed suicide. Also, the claim that "suicide will happen anyway, with or without a gun, just like murder. Can't ban ropes, people use those to commit suicide as well" is completely speculation. Also, referring back to what I have said previously, ropes are used for many other things. Plus, as I have states, guns were used in about half of the 41,000 suicides in 2013, suffocation had about half of firearms, at just 10,000 according to the CDC. My opponent says "90% of people who commit suicide have depression which is a mental illness". Not only do they provide no source for this, but I can also refute it. My opponent says that depression is a mental illness, however what my opponent is truly talking about is transient depression. It is much more common, and is just for a period of time. Let's say a family member of mine dies. I would then spiral into transient depression, being very sad for a period of time. Normally, I would wait it out, but with a handgun, I can commit suicide so easily and fast that I do it without thinking. Bang. Another person dead. Again, the statistics my opponent mentions help my case. Handgun homicide is the biggest category of homicide, as stated by my opponent in their statistics. Handguns are the perfect homicide tool, easily concealable and easy to use. My opponent did not refute my second point. Extend. I have already won this debate, but I am going to bring in a new point anyways. P3: Accidental death. Accidents are very common when it comes to handgun death. There were "500 Accidental Deaths/unintentional gun deaths in 2013", according to the US Center for Disease Control. Eliminating handguns saves these lives, as an estimated 81% of gun deaths are attributable to handguns, according to the Heller vs. DC case conducted by the supreme court. Kids can also often find handguns and use them accidentally. A toddler in America shoots someone on average once a week because handguns are so easy to pick up and fire. That means 52 people are shot by toddlers in America each year because of handguns. Nicholas Kristof, NYT 1/7/16 This goes back to my second point, where a 3 year old shot and killed a 1 year old with a family handgun accidentally. Even Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams told reporters. Williams said there was at least one adult home when the incident happened. "It"s a sad day for Cleveland," said Williams. "This fascination that we have with handguns, not just in this city but in this country, has to stop. This is a senseless loss of life. "