Playing politics with suicide rates is morally appalling, yet that’s precisely what our government, media outlets and anti-gun groups do when they claim statistics “prove” Canada’s “gun control” scheme saves lives.
This column will set the record straight.
Yes, suicides by firearm declined steadily since 1991, the year 1,110 people chose to end their lives with a bullet.[i] By 2016, only 570 ended their lives this way. [ii]
That’s a good thing.
Here’s the problem. The decline of suicide by gunshot did not impact Canada’s overall suicide rate one bit.
This is the terrifying state of affairs we must address.
In 1991, almost as many people (1,034) chose to end their lives by hanging as those who shot themselves. By 2016 a horrifying 1,933 people hanged themselves, more than triple the number of people who used a bullet to end their lives that same year.
Another 932 people, on average, die after poisoning themselves every year. We don’t talk about those tragedies, either.
The inconvenient truth is this.
We haven’t stopped anyone from killing themselves.
Even more disturbing is the upward trend of Canada’s overall suicide rate, which rose by approximately 700 deaths from 2000 to 2016.
People simply chose a different method when stricter gun laws made firearms harder to obtain.
Blaming guns (and gun owners) may be convenient for those with an agenda, but the awful truth is 4.5 times as many people hang or poison themselves every year as end their lives with a bullet.
Why will nobody talk about those tragic losses of life?
Or is suicide only bad when a gun is used?
Sources:
[i] https://cssa-cila.org/garryb/publications/suicidesincanada.htm
[ii] https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=1310015601
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