Suicide and Mental Health Issues
Mental health issues and the risks of suicides among college students is another prime reason to prohibit or limit access to guns by college students. Researchers have found that youths aged 18-25 experience the highest rate of mental health problems. According to the American College Health Association’s National College Health Assessment, between 9 and 11% of college students seriously considered suicide in the last school year. Even more alarming, every year about 1,100 college students commit suicide and another 24,000 attempt to do so. Introducing firearms into this psychological cauldron could dramatically increase the danger to students. If a gun is used in a suicide attempt, more than 90% of the time the attempt will be fatal. By comparison, suicide attempts made by overdosing on drugs are fatal only 3% of the time. Thus, while suicides involving firearms account for only 5% of the suicide attempts in America, they accounted for more than half of the 32,439 fatalities. Needless to say, increasing firearms availability for college students could lead to a significant increase in the number of fatalities among the 24,000 suicide attempts survived by students each year. After all, the presence of a gun in the home increases the risk of suicide fivefold.
Colleges and universities have devoted considerable resources to address mental health problems and suicide risks on campus. One thing they have not done, however, is attempt to expel all the students that pose mental health or suicide risks. Nor should they. A college may face legal problems if it discriminates against certain students based on a perception that they are prone to depression or violence. Moreover, many scholars believe it is not possible to reliably identify who will go on a rampage, thus suggesting there is no way for a college or university to distinguish in advance between gun-toters who pose extraordinary risks, and those who may not. According to Dr. James Alan Fox, Dean of the College of Criminal Justice at Northeastern University and one of America’s leading criminologists: It’s not a matter of identifying problem cases and dealing with them. It’s a matter of changing the way things are done.... You can’t just grease the squeaky wheel. You’ve got to grease the whole machine.
Accordingly, the only safe and nondiscriminatory way to reduce the risks of gun violence on college campuses is to keep them gun-free.
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I find it absurd to say that suicide is a problem on college campuses. Stress is a problem, suicide is the only solution for 24,000 who now feel shame because they failed at failing.
Now to say that guns increase the risk of suicide seems quite ludicrous. There are so many other ergonomic ways to slip off your cracker, so to speak. Alcohol, sleeping pills, roof-access, and good ol' fashioned rope or car exhaust are certainly more viable than running out and spending a few hundred dollars on a firearm and ammunition. Better yet, water and a bathing station are free in dormitories.
In the 4 years I have been at Purdue, there have been 5 hangings (none of which were auto-erotic asphyxiation), only one accidental shooting , a few alcohol poisonings resulting in death (and believe me, alcohol poisoning is actually a bigger problem than violence on campus) and a few freak accidents.
And why should people who want to die be forced to live and told they have a problem or are a problem? Rehabilitation of a clinically depressed or overly stressed person doesn't seem to address the problems that they see and have to deal with. Think of the case of James Vance in 1985. He and a friend made a suicide pact allegedly over the song "Better by you, Better than Me." His friend died and he survived (not so 5 times as likely to die anymore). With a reconstructed face and the shame of not fulfilling his pact, he committed suicide a few years later, only after terrorizing neighborhood children with his hideous face.
Maybe I'm not getting to the point, but G vs R says puts it quite bluntly :)
Most of the arguments are red herrings. The only people that would be able to carry are those with concealed carry permits. They already have the ability to carry everywhere except at a school . Do they completely change character by passing the school boundary?
They will have passed training, background check, fingerprinting and other requirements before getting the permit. The majority of the students would not be able to carry due to age or other issues. This is about letting responsible adults have the ability to defend themselves. (and possible others.)
As has been mentioned already by aaronr8684, the suicide rate is virtually unaffected by gun restrictions. People who are determined to take their own life will find a means to do so.
The issue of guns shouldn't even be brought up when talking about suicide any more than any other method. Numerous studies (by independant sources) have shown that even when guns are limited, the only thing that goes down is suicide by guns. The over all (successful, not attempted) suicide rate stays exactly the same. So obviously this isn't about guns, it's about suicide. Maybe once we start focusing on the real issue, we might actually be help to help the true victims and fix the problem.
Isn't it true that you have to undergo backgrounds checks, mental testing, and safety courses before you are permitted to carry a concealed weapon? So, how exactly are you suggesting these suicidal and mentally ill students are going to get these guns? Are they going to steal them, or are they just miraculously going to pass all the required checks and courses to get a concealed weapon?
Its amazing that when firearm related suicide lethality is compared to other methods, they always leave out hanging...which is MORE lethal than firearms. People that are determined enough to use a gun probably wouldn't be detered by the face that they can't get one...they would find another way.
If the Brady Campaign was really interested in lowering the number of suicides on campus, the would focus on eliminating alcohol. No matter the method (OD, Firearm, hanging/strangulation, cutting etc.) many (if not the majority) people attempting suicide are under the influence. But that's not their concern...their concern is to get rid of guns, and they attempt to do so by using scare tactics.