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Old 05-11-2014, 12:07 PM
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AstralTraveller (David)
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Wollongong
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[QUOTE=blink138;1130480]
Quote:
Originally Posted by csb View Post
So true. Guns don't kill, people do.

so you think that if everybody in the world owned a gun people would not use them to kill another? ......
Quote:
Originally Posted by jenchris View Post
Spears don't kill people.....
Inanimate objects do not by definition have a life of their own.
I owned various guns of many calibres; not one managed to pull its own trigger whilst loaded and pointed at someone.
...
People tend to think of guns being used against another person. This overlooks their use for suicide.

"Opportunity is another huge influence on whether someone attempts suicide, so much so that Lifeline CEO Alan Woodward says restricting access to the means by which someone might take their own life is the single most effective way to prevent suicide." http://www.abc.net.au/health/feature...30/4097548.htm

Guns are attractive as a suicide method because they are quick (no time to change your mind), convenient, reliable (no waking up in ICU) and relatively painless (compared to e.g. poisons or trains). I don't have the figures to hand but I believe that limiting access to guns has been shown to lessen suicide rates, probably especially in rural areas. I know there are ways to make gun storage safer (amo separate to the gun, bolt stored elsewhere) but that isn't always done (especially if the gun is in regular use e.g. for shooting rabbits) and the gun owner (and maybe others) can get around these obstacles relatively easily. Given the size of the suicide problem I think this is a real consideration when thinking about gun ownership. I'm pretty OK at the moment but there have been times when I wouldn't have wanted to be near a loaded gun.

Last edited by AstralTraveller; 05-11-2014 at 12:56 PM.
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