"We have met the enemy,and its us!"
Pogo by Walt Kelly

If (God forbid) you are found shot to death, the killer will probably be:  (a) A robber  (b)   your spouse or partner (c) a personal enemy  (d) you.

Are you surprised that the correct answer is  (d)?   The US Center for Disease Control  (CDC) reports that in 2009  there were 30,782 firearm deaths in this country, of which 18,735 (61%) were suicides,  11, 493 (37%) were homicides, and only 554 were accidents.  However, among   the  47,000 non-fatal shootings that year, only 3,000 (6.4%) were  self-inflicted, which makes sense,  since   someone trying to kill himself is more likely to succeed than someone shooting at someone else,  who is likely trying to escape. (1)

The truth is surprising because the mainstream media  overplays murder and downplays suicide.  Among the top-rated TV shows,   such as Law and Order and NCIS,  murders are commonplace, including many that are  made to appear as suicide.  News  programs  cover every murder, but ignore suicide unless the victim is  famous, such as  Ernest Hemingway, Freddie  Prinze or Milwaukee County Judge  John Krueger (2).  Suicide simply does not make  good TV or news copy, since it provides no mystery or conflict.

The gap between the true statistics and public perception is important because  it illustrates the futility of   gun control in reducing firearm fatalities.  The vast majority of  gun-suicide victims have no prior criminal record.   Nearly all of them are suffering from a severe depression at the time of  the act, but  very few had ever been adjudged legally insane.  So, even the toughest background check requirements do virtually nothing to prevent  firearm suicide.

States could reduce firearm suicides somewhat by passing Oregon-style laws that permit  a form of  non-violent suicide (usually by poison) in some cases, but  there are legitimate moral objections to such laws.  The most effective way  a family can  prevent such a tragedy in its midst is to rid the home of  all guns.  I have never lived in a home with a gun, and never intend to.  Of course, now every criminal in Milwaukee who reads this blog  knows it.  I will take my chances.

Gerald S Glazer

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(1)  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 21, 2012, page 2A.

(2) Judge Krueger shot himself to death in the bathroom next to his chambers in the (ironically  named)  Safety Building in 1969.