Quote Originally Posted by ICantSpellDawg View Post
Our suicide rates are not astronomical. You are making that up. In fact, as a limey, you are 4 countries away from us in rate. France is higher than the US, so is Japan, Belgium and many other modern, developed countries. You'd think that, since we own nearly 50% of all privately owned firearms and they are so much more effective for suicide, that it would be much higher, but you'd be completely wrong. Ironically, as much as minorities drive our high homicide rate, they also drive our lower suicide rate. Black Americans risk and use of suicide is dramatically lower than most other modern nations. Why? Who knows, maybe they are classed in the homicide rates as a sort of "death by cop"
Firstly, yes you caught me in a bit of hypebolye it is not astronomical and I need to realign my argument to the actual data: your prevalence of firearms is making suicide an easier proposition to act on as exhibited by harvard's study. I also argue that due the variation of gun restrictions throughout the USA along state and county lines that the USA's overall suicide rate is being equalized by those states with greater gun restrictions as exhibited here,(the table right at the bottom of the page under "U.S. Suicide Statistics (2005)"), in it I see the high suicide rate states are the ones with the most lax gun restrictions as exhibited here (montana , nevada, alaska etc) and the low rates in states with high gun restriction (like new york, new jersy, rhode island etc).

I want every law abiding American to own at least 5 firearms. Black, White, etc. I take people to the range, we are doing quite well in reestablishing gun culture here in the suburbs of NYC, where Bloomberg is invited to eat complimentary turd sandwiches. The internet is amazing for it. Then, we are coming to Europe to spread their lawful use. Guns and self control make men and women free. Sound crazy? Good. Its a revolutionary idea. The old idea is that we should be coddled and protected from ourselves by our mommy, the State.
As an aside, I try not to carry during the day or around the house with a round chambered. It helps to reduce risk of fatal accident. At night, in an unusual area, you are probably better off carrying condition 1. greyblades, you should come to the US and I will take you to the range. It is a new world here and Americans who never really had the right are starting to grab it due to equal protections and stare decisis.
"Revolutionary" is one word for it, making an army of suicide squirrels is "revolutionary", it's just not a good idea. That idea might help with the accident rate as teaching everyone gun safety will help prevent it, but I see that definitely exacerbating the suicide and homicide rates, if someone wants to kill themselves a gun is the easiest solution and making suicide harder to do makes it more likely prospective suicides will reconsider.
As for murderers they aren't exactly going to be deterred by sessions at rifle ranges, its more likely to give them experience to make murderer's eventual exploits even more damaging.
As for the invite, I've been to america twice, I used a gun range once, I wasnt really enthused by the idea of a society where everyone having the capacity to do such easy damage to one another.