NRA and suicide

**Devil** · Posted On: 1/07/2013 7:09pm

pastefromlogan - your NRA argument is ridiculous. The math is very simple. If the NRA's members were that opposed to their actions, there would be no NRA. Very simple.

And I know where your tiny little paranoid brain will go next. "But it's the GUN MANUFACTURERS funding the NRA!!!!!!!111" Fine. Gun manufacturers protecting the goods they sell that private citizens buy, thereby making them wealthy because they fucking love the guns those companies are protecting the right to sell.

You're pissing up a rope, as usual. I'm concerned you've gone from being the crazy uncle to being flat out batshit crazy. Are you about to suck on the barrel of a 12 gauge?

This probably is a bad time to tell you I don't view sucide as a public problem. If people want to off themselves it's none of my business.

**patfromlogan** · Posted On: 1/08/2013 12:34pm

The info is from survey and officer's quotes and nothing to do with my opinion.

In my opinion the law is misconstrued, and from what the Army officers say, makes their efforts to curtail suicide more difficult.

I'm writing and realizing that the subject I'm concerned with isn't the NRA policies, but how the veterans are treated. So I'll go there on another thread. Suicide is the tip of the iceberg.

I heard that more than 50,000 Vietnam veterans had committed suicide by 1980, more than died in the war... It's one thing to come home being hailed as heroes, another to be called dupes or worse. I hope all have learned from that war to honor the warrior of unpopular wars.

Here is a site by and for veterans:

http://www.suicidewall.com/

**mike321** · Posted On: 1/08/2013 1:17pm

Pat,

The topic you started is about military suicide and laws championed by the NRA that your original post claims endangers active duty personnel. This is not about veterans or US treatment of them. This is about how much military should intervene to prevent suicide. As with most issues regarding guns, safety is not the only issue. So how much intervention should military take regarding personal guns?

**Permalost** · Posted On: 1/08/2013 1:35pm

If a soldier is deemed mentally unfit to own a hunting rifle or whatever, should they be trusted with any military hardware?

**Diesel_tke** · Posted On: 1/08/2013 1:42pm

Originally Posted by Permalost

If a soldier is deemed mentally unfit to own a hunting rifle or whatever, should they be trusted with any military hardware?

That was what I was thinking. If you don't trust a soldier with a gun because he may kill himself with it, then he shouldn't be a soldier. And if you trust him to have a weapon to fight with, he should be able to have a personal weapon to hunt or defend himself with.

**mike321** · Posted On: 1/08/2013 2:07pm

Originally Posted by Permalost

If a soldier is deemed mentally unfit to own a hunting rifle or whatever, should they be trusted with any military hardware?

Need to get some input from mental health professionals. It may not be this simple. The article refers to drinking, alone, and with a personal gun. Also, this is the stigma people talk about. If you have a position using weapons you would need to hide problems.

**Eddie Hardon** · Posted On: 1/08/2013 3:02pm

Originally Posted by judoka_uk

People who are suicidal are still capable of rational decision making,

Hopefully you will never find yourself in such a position but, if misfortune should seemingly strike out of nowhere and you pull through, please share your experience rather than what you are currently presuming.

**Diesel_tke** · Posted On: 1/08/2013 3:20pm

Originally Posted by mike321

Need to get some input from mental health professionals. It may not be this simple. The article refers to drinking, alone, and with a personal gun. Also, this is the stigma people talk about. If you have a position using weapons you would need to hide problems.

Well, they do a pretty good job of trying to find out if soldiers have PTSD and other mental illness. Yes, they try to hide it sometimes, to stay in their career. But you can only go so far. To do that, they have to rely on the soldiers telling the mental professional when they have these thoughts. Otherwise you would have to take away all the weapons from all the soldiers assuming that any of them could be suicidal or have PTSD.

**Permalost** · Posted On: 1/08/2013 3:21pm

Originally Posted by mike321

The article refers to drinking, alone, and with a personal gun.

Sounds like the dangers of drinking, alone, with a personal car.

**mike321** · Posted On: 1/08/2013 3:44pm

Originally Posted by Permalost

Sounds like the dangers of drinking, alone, with a personal car.

I don't think the analogy holds up. As noted earlier in this thread a gun may not be related to overall suicide risk. However, we are not talking about the general population, we are talking about active duty military. It is quite possible there is a profile and breaking up the pattern may prevent an irreversible decision by a person with a temporary problem. I have known long time gun owners who give up guns in the house due to problems with individuals in the house. This sounds like personal responsibility to me. The military is a paternalistic organization and feels the need to protect its members.