re: Sean Payton Gun Control Tweet

quote:

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2/3 gun deaths are suicide. If someone wants to kill themselves, they will find a way.

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I don't really have a dog in this fight, but I have to point out how false and dangerous this narrative is.

I'm a psychologist, and one of the first things you do when you hear a client is suicidal is ask if they have any guns.

Acute suicidality is temporary and opportunistic.
That's why hospitalizing suicidal people for a few days is so useful.
They're over the need to kill themselves by then.

I'll give an example.
Tons of people jump off the golden gate Bridge every year.
One year, while filming a movie, they prevented people from jumping.
They decided to check up on them later on.
They found that, after seven years, over 90% of the people who attempted suicide were still alive.




It's actually not that easy to kill yourself.
I've seen people fail in all sorts of ways.
But it IS easy to kill yourself with a gun.