Here we go again, "Guns are bad, guns are evil, guns kill people"...blah blah blah.

Well, well, well... "Guns at home equal higher suicide risk". How convenient! Guess guns must be evil. Hmmm. Can it really be that simple? I mean, is anything ever really that simple?

Let's explore this for a moment. Do people commit suicide because guns are present in the home? It's a valid question, because that's what this study seems to imply. So what do you think? Does the presence of a gun in the home cause one to commit suicide? As a matter of fact, what portion of these suicides that were considered were actually commited with the gun that happened to be present in the home? While we're at it, what portion of the suicides that were considered in this study were even commited at home? If I were to commit suicide with a rope that I found in my house, would it be any less tragic than if I happened to use a gun? If death is the end result, what's the difference? What if I chose to run my car in the garage and take a little nap? Is it less offensive? How about a razor blade and a nice warm bath? Would that make others feel a little better about my choice?

The study claimed that it "...took into account poverty, urbanization, unemployment, drug and alcohol dependence and abuse, and mental illness, and calculated the relationship of gun ownership to suicide." Really? Well, just how in the hell did they do that? Perhaps they mean to imply that if there is a gun in your home, you are likely to be poor, unemployed, addicted to drugs or alchohol or mentaly ill. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, "More than 90% of all suicides are related to a mood disorder or other psychiatric illness". Wow, that sure sounds like a cause to me. So am I to deduce from this study that the mentally disturbed majority of those who commited suicide would have ceased their attempts were it only for the fact that a gun was present? I am not so easily swayed. I think if you've got your mind set on checking out, you're going to find a way to do it. Gun ownership has no relation to the frequency of suicide...mental illness does.