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Scouse · October 9, 2012, 03:18 PM

It is worth bearing in mind what a difficult thing killing yourself can be for many people, both those who succeed and fail. Many try multiple times. Many suicidal people end up surviving, coming through it and living long and happy lives because when they were at their worst the practicality of actually doing it was too much. For a condition like PTSD, where for most people there is every chance of effective treatment (in theory I mean, since in practice it is very often inadequate) if they survive long enough to let it work, denying access to an easy means of suicide can save the suffering individual's life.

Cutting is agonisingly painful (so I am assured by a close family member with Type 2 Bipolar Affective Disorder who tried and failed to kill themselves using this method), and even if someone does it exactly ''right'' really isn't that quick. Pain is scary.

ODing - can be fairly straightforward, but not for the majority of people who end up using prescription drugs and over the counter pain meds. It is often a prolonged experience that requires commitment to ending your own life over quite a length of time, while you munch down all those drugs your brain has time to work. Maybe you go through with it, maybe you don't, maybe you call the emergency services and get your stomach pumped.

Hanging is extremely easy to botch and often requires very active preparation, again representing the same psychological barriers (or protections) as ODing often does.

Obviously there are endless other ways a person can kill themselves, but the point is, none of it is easy to actually do.

Shooting yourself in the head is about as sure and as quick as you can get. It can happen in the time it takes to pick up a gun and put it to your head. A person can brood on it for days, weeks, months, years without ever taking an active step towards making it happen until the very moment they decide - gun up, trigger pulled, dead. Doesn't work like that for other methods, generally.

On that, purely practical level, denying a suicidal person access to firearms can be a life saver, particularly when it comes to illnesses that have definite environmental causes/triggers, like PTSD, where there is an excellent chance decent treatment will repair some of the damage. Alas, studies have shown that rates of gun ownership in a place have little effect on overall suicide rates, as many people simply exercise substitution, and kill themselves another way. The point I am trying to make is that when you are dealing with people who are likely to represent a suicide risk for a relatively brief period (in comparison to someone with a natural brain imbalance that puts them at risk for life), keeping guns out of easy reach can be the difference between life and death and might have a statistical impact that does not exist in the wider population.

No idea what the implications of that are for the broader issue of 2A and soldiers with PTSD - just thought I would give my point of view.

October 9, 2012, 03:18 PM	#17
Scouse Senior Member Join Date: June 9, 2011 Posts: 133	It is worth bearing in mind what a difficult thing killing yourself can be for many people, both those who succeed and fail. Many try multiple times. Many suicidal people end up surviving, coming through it and living long and happy lives because when they were at their worst the practicality of actually doing it was too much. For a condition like PTSD, where for most people there is every chance of effective treatment (in theory I mean, since in practice it is very often inadequate) if they survive long enough to let it work, denying access to an easy means of suicide can save the suffering individual's life. Cutting is agonisingly painful (so I am assured by a close family member with Type 2 Bipolar Affective Disorder who tried and failed to kill themselves using this method), and even if someone does it exactly ''right'' really isn't that quick. Pain is scary. ODing - can be fairly straightforward, but not for the majority of people who end up using prescription drugs and over the counter pain meds. It is often a prolonged experience that requires commitment to ending your own life over quite a length of time, while you munch down all those drugs your brain has time to work. Maybe you go through with it, maybe you don't, maybe you call the emergency services and get your stomach pumped. Hanging is extremely easy to botch and often requires very active preparation, again representing the same psychological barriers (or protections) as ODing often does. Obviously there are endless other ways a person can kill themselves, but the point is, none of it is easy to actually do. Shooting yourself in the head is about as sure and as quick as you can get. It can happen in the time it takes to pick up a gun and put it to your head. A person can brood on it for days, weeks, months, years without ever taking an active step towards making it happen until the very moment they decide - gun up, trigger pulled, dead. Doesn't work like that for other methods, generally. On that, purely practical level, denying a suicidal person access to firearms can be a life saver, particularly when it comes to illnesses that have definite environmental causes/triggers, like PTSD, where there is an excellent chance decent treatment will repair some of the damage. Alas, studies have shown that rates of gun ownership in a place have little effect on overall suicide rates, as many people simply exercise substitution, and kill themselves another way. The point I am trying to make is that when you are dealing with people who are likely to represent a suicide risk for a relatively brief period (in comparison to someone with a natural brain imbalance that puts them at risk for life), keeping guns out of easy reach can be the difference between life and death and might have a statistical impact that does not exist in the wider population. No idea what the implications of that are for the broader issue of 2A and soldiers with PTSD - just thought I would give my point of view.