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22+ killed in mass shooting in Maine

Yes, 60% of gun deaths are suicides.
Thats true. So far in 2023 there have been 15,733 deaths by firearms that include murder, mass shootings and unintentional deaths. There have been 19, 998 suicides by firearms. Why is the media coverage so limited to mass shootings? Mass shootings have made up just over 600 deaths this year or less than 2%. While all deaths are tragic and those by guns are largely avoidable one would think we would center our attention on the larger percentage by suicide and murders, this is where we can make real headway. Improve our existing laws, improve mental health programs, enforces red flag laws, get more criminals off the street ect...
 
This thread is kind of all over place. I do hope that the U.S. is able to peacefully dissolve and subsequently reorganize into at least two more culturally cohesive nations in the relatively near future.

Mass shootings are terrible and terrifying. They impact individuals and communities differently, like hate crimes and acts of terrorism impact us differently. When I started in the mental health field, I anticipated dealing with suicides and homicides by gun regularly; I never imagined that I would be responding to a mass shooting in my community, on average, once per year.
600 deaths by mass shootings so far in 2023. 19,998 by suicide with a firearm.
 
Thats true. So far in 2023 there have been 15,733 deaths by firearms that include murder, mass shootings and unintentional deaths. There have been 19, 998 suicides by firearms. Why is the media coverage so limited to mass shootings? Mass shootings have made up just over 600 deaths this year or less than 2%. While all deaths are tragic and those by guns are largely avoidable one would think we would center our attention on the larger percentage by suicide and murders, this is where we can make real headway. Improve our existing laws, improve mental health programs, enforces red flag laws, get more criminals off the street ect...
I am thinking that death by suicide and murder are not usually done with semiautomatic weapons.
 
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I also believe we should have a right to own firearms as well as regulate who can possess one.
Exactly. A majority of lawful gun owners would have no problem with expanded gun regulations. Longer wait periods, expanded background and mental health checks, expanded red flag laws all should be on the table. I personally am not even opposed to limits on certain types of weapons. The police need to have the upper hand.
 
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I remember going around and around back in 2001-2002 on this very messageboard on this very point. Gun deaths by suicide and accidents are by far the biggest threat to all of us, but the psychological impact of mass shootings, homicides, and terrorist attacks captures our attention and anxiety so much more effectively. It is really sad. 20+ years later, all I can do is beg everyone: please do not keep guns in your homes. That is the single most impactful thing that we could to do to keep more people alive.

On a more hopeful note: Killings in the U.S. are dropping at a historic rate. Will anyone notice?
Improve our gun laws, make it harder to buy firearms, prosecute criminals, improve mental health care and facilities. Those will reduce deaths. Making people soft targets by removing guns just emboldens the criminals.
 
As you noted via the death statistics: criminals pose much less of a threat to us than depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and domestic violence with regard to gun deaths. The softest targets and the most dangerous threats are the same: ourselves and our family members.

I would love to have a discussion regarding improving mental healthcare and facilities.
It's not much less. 19K+ due to suicides and 15k due to murder/accidental death ect this includes the 600 mass shooting victims so it's not much less. I for one would rather take my chances with the ones you listed vice the criminals.
 
This thread is kind of all over place. I do hope that the U.S. is able to peacefully dissolve and subsequently reorganize into at least two more culturally cohesive nations in the relatively near future.

Mass shootings are terrible and terrifying. They impact individuals and communities differently, like hate crimes and acts of terrorism impact us differently. When I started in the mental health field, I anticipated dealing with suicides and homicides by gun regularly; I never imagined that I would be responding to a mass shooting in my community, on average, once per year.
You probably shouldn’t hope or expect the US to break up into two or more countries. It isn’t happening, and if it did it would be a nightmare in every conceivable way bc it wouldn’t be peaceful.
 
The U.S. will eventually break up; that is certain. No nation has ever lasted forever, and most have reorganized multiple times.
Of course it will but I sure as hell hope I’m not around to see it bc it won’t be peaceful. I know you see the world in a very polarized way but more people than you think are still pretty close to the middle politically, they just aren’t the ones making all the noise on either side.
 
As you noted via the death statistics: criminals pose much less of a threat to us than depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and domestic violence with regard to gun deaths. The softest targets and the most dangerous threats are the same: ourselves and our family members.

I would love to have a discussion regarding improving mental healthcare and facilities.
When I worked at the Sheriffs office, most domestic calls were on Sundays & other holidays/events where individuals were shut in together. Substance abuse rarely has a positive impact as well.
 
Of course it will but I sure as hell hope I’m not around to see it bc it won’t be peaceful. I know you see the world in a very polarized way but more people than you think are still pretty close to the middle politically, they just aren’t the ones making all the noise on either side.
If people would turn off social media they would realize things aren't as bad.
 
Accidental deaths by gun should be included with suicide by gun, as should homicides by gun attributable to intimate partner and domestic violence (which is the overwhelming majority of homicides for children and women), as these are the gun deaths that are readily avoidable by keeping guns out of the home.

Of course, you would rather take your chances with those, and you are hardly the only one. Most people, especially those who like guns, think that they will be the exception to the clear statistical patterns and that "those things will never happen to me."

Choosing to take your chances with the risk of dying by gun-related suicide, accident, or domestic violence, relative to the chance of being shot by a criminal, is just not logical or rational based on the data. It's a similar psychological bias (with a bit of the Lake Wobegon effect thrown in for good measure) that leads to the media focusing on mass shootings, terrorism, shark attacks, etc., relative to all the other things that pose a much greater risk. That irrational engagement with relative risk was I thought you were pointing out in your initial response to me.

The research findings are clear and unequivocal: the number one action that you can take to protect yourself and your family from death by gunshot is to keep guns out of your home.
You can probably accomplish the same with a safe & leaving intoxicating substances out of homes.
 
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I am huge proponent of disengaging social media: this messageboard is literally my only social media account. Social media is toxic. Period.

Yet, I do not know how anybody can look at the state of the U.S. federal government and believe that things aren't bad.

Social media is OK as long as you don't get entangled into arguments and you block trolls.

Hopefully, things will be better in government in 10 years or so when the next generation takes over.

Do you think it would be better if America split up during the Civil War?
 
I am huge proponent of disengaging social media: this messageboard is literally my only social media account. Social media is toxic. Period.

Yet, I do not know how anybody can look at the state of the U.S. federal government and believe that things aren't bad.
I’ve been off social media for maybe 10 years or so? Don’t miss it at all.
 
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I would love to have a discussion regarding improving mental healthcare and facilities.

In some careers it's career suicide to seek help for mental health. Pilot is one. Although some pilots should have been banned from flying such as the German wings pilot who flew the Airbus into the mountain killing all the passengers and the recent Alaska airline pilots who pulled the fire levers during flight.

The news articles and the FAA will tell you that there are waivers for taking antidepressants. Etc. However the bureaucracy can idle a pilot without income or job flying for years until the waiver is obtained.

If a pilot has a drinking problem and seeks rehab, he's banned for flying for 2 years. He's better off trying to tackle it alone or via AA and not seeking professional help which must be reported to the FAA.
 
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Accidental deaths by gun should be included with suicide by gun, as should homicides by gun attributable to intimate partner and domestic violence (which is the overwhelming majority of homicides for children and women), as these are the gun deaths that are readily avoidable by keeping guns out of the home.

Of course, you would rather take your chances with those, and you are hardly the only one. Most people, especially those who like guns, think that they will be the exception to the clear statistical patterns and that "those things will never happen to me."

Choosing to take your chances with the risk of dying by gun-related suicide, accident, or domestic violence, relative to the chance of being shot by a criminal, is just not logical or rational based on the data. It's a similar psychological bias (with a bit of the Lake Wobegon effect thrown in for good measure) that leads to the media focusing on mass shootings, terrorism, shark attacks, etc., relative to all the other things that pose a much greater risk. That irrational engagement with relative risk was what I thought you were pointing out in your initial response to me.

The research findings are clear and unequivocal: the number one action that you can take to protect yourself and your family from death by gunshot is to keep guns out of your home.
As of today the numbers on gun violence deaths are:
Homicide/Murder/Unintentional and DV - 15793
Suicide - 20,064

Since I know for a fact, I'm not committing suicide and I alone have access to my guns there's no risk of that. The only risk is the 15k + murders ect.. from gun violence so it's very logical for me to keep my guns. A safe and trigger locks go a long way to reducing risks.

Have you removed alcohol and prescription drugs from your house as well? Both contribute to more deaths per year than guns.

 
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As of today the numbers on gun violence deaths are:
Homicide/Murder/Unintentional and DV - 15793
Suicide - 20,064

Since I know for a fact, I'm not committing suicide and I alone have access to my guns there's no risk of that. The only risk is the 15k + murders ect.. from gun violence so it's very logical for me to keep my guns. A safe and trigger locks go a long way to reducing risks.

Have you removed alcohol and prescription drugs from your house as well? Both contribute to more deaths per year than guns.

The only way to create a perfect world is to lock everyone in an empty single room with no clothes.
 
There is the Lake Wobegon effect, it seems. Yet, maybe you truly are exceptional. If so, then I am not talking about your situation.

I do not have any alcohol or prescription drugs in my home, for what it’s worth. I also do not have a gun, and I have never in my life felt so afraid for my safety to justify the risk of having one.
I don't know how telling you I'm not going to commit suicide is over estimating capabilities but ok.

There is zero risk in owning a gun. The risk is using it and not handling it properly. Its not about fear, I choose to have the ability to protect myself and my family if it comes to that. I hope it never does and the guns I own never have to be used.

I've seen death and have close friends that have died from suicide (self-inflicted gunshots) but that doesn't sway my decision to own guns. I also have no issue with those that choose not to, that's your right.
 
I am not talking about creating a perfect world. This thread is about deaths by gun, which is the leading cause of deaths for children and adolescents, and the second leading cause of deaths for young adults.

According to the research, the most powerful protective action that a person can take to reduce the chance of their or their family member dying in a shooting is to remove guns from the home.

That’s it. It’s hardly perfection, but it’s true.
Just curious. Which research are you referring to?
 
Suicide is almost always an impulsive act, and it often catches people off-guard and kills them at their weakest point. I also do not think that I would ever kill myself, but I have enough experience with suicide to never assert with certainty that I will not. I could experience a psychotic break induced by an environmental toxin, a rapid onset major depressive or panic episode induced by a thyroid tumor, a random major cerebrovascular event, etc., and become acutely suicidal or homicidal, for example. Not having a gun in the home is a very easy, simple, and effective protective measure that I can take to keep myself and my loved ones safer.
Hard pass on all of the above. Or none of those things could happen and all will be fine. Just curious, how many people experience a psychotic break induced by an environmental toxin, a rapid onset major depressive or panic episode induced by a thyroid tumor, a random major cerebrovascular event, etc., and become acutely suicidal or homicidal?
 
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The epidemiological research on gun violence.

Here's an article from UCLA on gun violence. Lock and protect aims to reduce access (safes and trigger locks). I guess removing all together is a way to do that but it's not what this program is suggesting.
 
Suicide is almost always an impulsive act, and it often catches people off-guard and kills them at their weakest point. I also do not think that I would ever kill myself, but I have enough experience with suicide to never assert with certainty that I will not. I could experience a psychotic break induced by an environmental toxin, a rapid onset major depressive or panic episode induced by a thyroid tumor, a random major cerebrovascular event, etc., and become acutely suicidal or homicidal, for example. Not having a gun in the home is a very easy, simple, and effective protective measure that I can take to keep myself and my loved ones safer.
Would you agree an individual would simply find another avenue based on those scenarios?
 
Would you agree an individual would simply find another avenue based on those scenarios?
I know you asked Brain but the 1st part of this 7 min video clip seems to answer it pretty well (starting about 1-1/2 minutes in)…
 
I know you asked Brain but the 1st part of this 7 min video clip seems to answer it pretty well (starting about 1-1/2 minutes in)…
That makes sense.
 
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I know you asked Brain but the 1st part of this 7 min video clip seems to answer it pretty well (starting about 1-1/2 minutes in)…
I would think someone that would use a firearm to commit suicide would be more intent on it than say someone who utilizes pills or something like that. I think their assertion here is that the lethality of guns makes it final in most cases. Good video/transcript.
 
I grew up in Miami. Lived in Chicago for many years. Been all over the world. Biggest shooting/murder event I’ve been close to was in Blacksburg Virginia. Cho something or other went on a killing spree and shot 30 something people on Virginia Tech’s campus. I’ve worked with people who were at parkland.

I think mental illness is the prevailing factor in most of the cases that hit the media. Though our mass shooting stats are dominated by gang violence. In the latter case, gun laws without massive confiscation will do nothing. In the former, better red flag laws might help. But also, we really should consider bringing back mental heath institutions. It’s a tough situation and, in a way, sort of like minority report ethically. The Philip k Dick story on incarceration of people who you know will commit future crimes. I think the latter has more human cost and economic cost than the occasional mass shooting.
 
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In some careers it's career suicide to seek help for mental health. Pilot is one. Although some pilots should have been banned from flying such as the German wings pilot who flew the Airbus into the mountain killing all the passengers and the recent Alaska airline pilots who pulled the fire levers during flight.

The news articles and the FAA will tell you that there are waivers for taking antidepressants. Etc. However the bureaucracy can idle a pilot without income or job flying for years until the waiver is obtained.

If a pilot has a drinking problem and seeks rehab, he's banned for flying for 2 years. He's better off trying to tackle it alone or via AA and not seeking professional help which must be reported to the FAA.
Yep, one of the most terrifying news stories to me was a pilot, I think for Egypt air, who decided to commit suicide by diving the passenger jet into the ocean. There’s just no locus of control in that situation.
 
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If people are really worried about the country breaking apart, I’d be stocking up on guns not getting rid of them. For the record, I don’t have a gun. If I lived in Los Angeles, I’d probably have a gun.
 
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