Confirming something we already knew

The majority of US firearms deaths are suicides. (~30,000 suicides per year versus ~10,000 homicides and accidents.) Thus one of the arguments given in favor of waiting periods and safe storage laws has been that these measures can help to prevent suicides. Our side has always countered that those bent upon self-destruction will find other means if firearms are denied to them. In economics, the technical term for this kind of seeking out an alternative means to an end is "substitution". A new study from the CDC shows substitution of other suicide methods for firearms among teens.

Suicide is the third leading killer of young people ages 10 to 19, with about 2,000 deaths in the United States each year. It ranks 11th in causes of death nationwide. The new report, which looked at trends in teen suicides from 1992 to 2001, shows the suicide rate among young people has fallen in the past decade. But the methods used by teens have changed dramatically.

In young teens and preteens - those ages 10 to 14 - the change is especially striking: From 1992 to 2001, the number of suicides by suffocation rose 70 percent, while the number of firearm deaths dropped by nearly half. Suicide by suffocation now outnumbers suicide by firearm nearly 2 to 1.

Changing the means by which you lose a loved one does not change the pain one iota. There have been plenty of people in the anti-gun movement who had a loved one use a gun to commit suicide. This choice of means is what animates these particular individuals to oppose the right of others to keep and bear arms. While some are simply being vindictive, others are genuine in their desire to spare others the grief they've experienced. However, they fail to see the overwhelming benefit of privately owned firearms. Firearms are used to prevent violent crime, and very often the loss of life, ~2,000,000 times each year in the US. Far more families benefit from firearms each year than suffer from them. In a simply cost/benefit analysis, firearms are a net benefit to the American People. Laws that attempt to curb suicide not only prevent the beneficial uses of firearms, they fail to save those who kill themselves.