From: moore@tc.fluke.COM (Matt Moore)
Subject: Re: Guns and Suicide, Medical Examiner's Rprt
Organization: John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc., Everett, WA
Distribution: seattle
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 16:51:15 GMT

 First, the JAMA has a history of publishing low quality "research" that
supports the political objective of banning civilian gun ownership.  That
makes me suspicious of this latest article. Only suspicious - they might
be right this time despite having been wrong many times before.

 Second, let us assume that the article is correct: gun owners are more
likely to commit suicide. This does not necessarily mean that gun
ownership causes suicide - the two could both be effects of a third,
causative factor. Gary Kleck's book contains a whole chapter on guns and
suicide. He hypothesizes that people who feel the need to control their
own lives and destinies are more likely to commit suicide, because
sometimes that is the last option besides total surrender to fate. For
instance, a person who has a terminal illness might kill himself rather
than waiting passively for the disease to finish him. He also hypothesizes
that a person who wants to control his life and his surroundings would be
more likely to own guns, for obvious reasons.

 But, for the sake of argument, lets assume that gun ownership has a
direct, causative effect of making suicide more likely. Even with these
assumptions, there is still no case for banning guns, because killing
yourself does not harm anyone else directly. People own many things and do
many things that are dangerous, from skydiving and motorcycling to working
with power tools.  As long as the manufacturers are honest about the risks
of their products, so that individuals can make informed decisions about
what risks they are willing to expose themselves to, and as long as they
endanger only themselves, few Americans object. The whole idea of America
is to give everyone as much freedom as possible; that we can do any stupid
thing we like as long as we endanger only ourselves.

 If the JAMA article turns out to be true (a big assumption), then the most
that it would justify would be warning labels of some sort, for instance:

"WARNING: Scientific research has shown that gun owners are more likely to
commit suicide than non-owners."

 As a long-time gun owner, the JAMA paper wouldn't worry me even if I
believed it was true. My life is just fine and I have no desire to end it
any time soon. I value my guns for the protection from criminal assault
that they provide. They also expose me to risk, mostly the risk of being
shot accidentally by other gun owners who have poor safety habits.  Once
when I was at a shooting range, for instance, I came close to being shot
by a U.S. Treasury Agent. This fellow saw nothing wrong with loading a gun
with his finger on the trigger and no idea of where the barrel was pointed
(it was pointed at my chest).

 For me, the risk/benefit balance of owning guns is highly favorable. I am
lucky to live in a country where I can make my own decision about owning
guns, according to my own analysis, rather than having some far-away
government make it for me, "for my own good".

						Matt Moore
						my opinions are just that