Texas church shooting leaves many dead (atleast 27).

[monocle_layton]

sundin13 said:

monocle_layton said:

Ignoring homicides, gun suicides are a problem too. Besides investing in programs for suicide prevention, shouldn't we reject anyone buying a gun who is medically diagnosed with depression? I know Australia managed to decrease gun suicides by implementing certain restrictions, and I honestly think it's worth tackling.

Suicide is certainly much more of a concern when it comes to mental illness than homicide. However, as is, depression isn't a condition which disqualifies someone from owning a gun. Should it be? I personally don't think so. While access to guns should be limited to anyone involuntarily committed or deemed a suicide risk, barring gun ownership to everybody with depression may do more harm than good. By including depression in a list of conditions which prevents gun ownership, you drive people away from seeking treatment and further stigmatize mental illness which also drives people away from treatment. 

Arguably, access and quality of care are two of the most important things for individuals facing depression, so working towards getting these people the help they need I believe would be more impactful than stripping them of their guns (although again, if they are getting help, removing access to guns should be very high on the priority list of the medical professionals treating them and if they are ever deemed a suicide risk, they should likely lose access to their weapons). 

That said, I am not aware of too much research on the efficacy of the programs you seem to be suggesting so what I am saying is largely based on what I believe is most important for those suffering from depression. If you have any relevant research, I would love to read it.

Aeolus451 said:

There's already universial background checks and the gun laws are constantly being changed because niether side agrees on a fundenmentallevel about gun ownership. 

Private sales of firearms do not require a background check in most states, which largely undermines the idea of "universal background checks". 

Objectives. Using previous research, we examined the impact of 4 handgun laws (waiting periods, universal background checks, gun locks, and open carrying regulations) on suicide rates.

Methods. We used publicly available databases to collect information on statewide laws, suicide rates, and demographic characteristics for 2013.

Results. Each law was associated with significantly lower firearm suicide rates and the proportion of suicides resulting from firearms. In addition, each law, except for that which required a waiting period, was associated with a lower overall suicide rate. Follow-up analyses showed a significant indirect effect on overall suicide rates through the proportion of suicides by firearms, indicating that the reduced overall suicide rate was attributable to fewer suicide attempts, fewer handguns in the home, suicide attempts using less lethal means, or a combination of these factors. States that implemented any of these laws saw a decreased suicide rate in subsequent years, whereas the only state that repealed 1 of these laws saw an increased suicide rate.

Conclusions. Our results were supportive of a potentially vital role in suicide prevention for state legislation that limits access and exposure to handguns.

 

http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302753

 

For anyone else curious, studies do seem to point towards gun deaths decreasing with restrictions