Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper cited the number of suicides by firearm as he signed new gun restrictions into law.
"However many homicides we have each year with handguns, we have about 20 percent more suicides," he said. "That number drops significantly when you have universal background checks."
I’m not sure where the governor gets that figure, but it is NOT from the Centers for Disease Control.
The most recent (2012) data from the CDC simply studies the methods used to commit suicide.
"For Americans, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death. It resulted in 36,909 lives lost in 2009.
The top three methods used in suicides included firearm (51%), suffocation (24%), and poisoning (17%)," the CDC said.
Now here’s the interesting part. The CDC says deaths from suicide are only part of the problem. “More people survive suicide attempts than actually die. In 2010, about 465,000 people received medical care for self-inflicted injuries at emergency departments across the United States,” the Centers reported.
However, the CDC does not break down the percentages of which methods attempted were unsuccessful. So
it stands to reason that, for whatever reason, guns may not always be the deadliest and most efficient method to end it all.
Perhaps Gov. Hickenlooper theorized that conducting a background check on all gun purchases could save lives. Maybe
he also should have looked into background checks for selling rope and prescription drugs.
- Dr. Gatling
"However many homicides we have each year with handguns, we have about 20 percent more suicides," he said. "That number drops significantly when you have universal background checks."
I’m not sure where the governor gets that figure, but it is NOT from the Centers for Disease Control.
The most recent (2012) data from the CDC simply studies the methods used to commit suicide.
"For Americans, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death. It resulted in 36,909 lives lost in 2009.
The top three methods used in suicides included firearm (51%), suffocation (24%), and poisoning (17%)," the CDC said.
Now here’s the interesting part. The CDC says deaths from suicide are only part of the problem. “More people survive suicide attempts than actually die. In 2010, about 465,000 people received medical care for self-inflicted injuries at emergency departments across the United States,” the Centers reported.
However, the CDC does not break down the percentages of which methods attempted were unsuccessful. So
it stands to reason that, for whatever reason, guns may not always be the deadliest and most efficient method to end it all.
Perhaps Gov. Hickenlooper theorized that conducting a background check on all gun purchases could save lives. Maybe
he also should have looked into background checks for selling rope and prescription drugs.
- Dr. Gatling
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