Gun deaths are shaped by race in America. Whites are far more likely to shoot themselves, and African Americans are far more likely to be shot by someone else.
The statistical difference is dramatic, according to a Washington Post analysis of data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A white person is five times as likely to commit suicide with a gun as to be shot with a gun; for each African American who uses a gun to commit suicide, five are killed by other people with guns.
Where a person lives matters, too. Gun deaths in urban areas are much more likely to be homicides, while suicide is far and away the dominant form of gun death in rural areas. States with the most guns per capita, such as Montana and Wyoming, have the highest suicide rates; states with low gun ownership rates, such as Massachusetts and New York, have far fewer suicides per capita.Now that makes perfect sense, doesn't it? Where there are more guns there are more suicides. Please note they did not say "more gun suicides," they mentioned the suicide rate.
The gun-rights fanatics love to sarcastically say our point is that guns CAUSE people to commit suicide. Of course that's not true. We understand as well as they do that inanimate objects don't have such power. But what we understand that they refuse to admit is that suicide attempts with guns are more likely to be successful, therefore where guns are available more suicides take place.
It's really pretty simple. What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
