LOL such a nonsense arguement. Back in that time period overthrowing a governmentwould have been possible, those laws were put in place to protect us from the government but I hate to tell you our guns are not going to do crap to the U.S. military.  Gun control is a huge issue and maybe you should look as to why laws were created before talking about things from ages ago.....

I do want to point out that this is a bit of an unhelpful statistic. Correlation vs causality and all that. I doubt that owning a gun makes one more likely to feel suicidal. However, feeling suicidal may influence someone's decision to purchase a gun...

To corroborate Norm's assertion, the auto industry is way, WAY, WAAAAAAAAAAAAY more regulated than the firearms industry. Whether it be emissions standards, safety standards, or performance standards, it is MUCH harder to get a car street legal than it is to get a gun to market. In fact (I can say this with absolutely certainty.), firearms manufacturers can essentially produce any class of firearm with barely any regulatory agency oversight or QA.

In addition to that, permission to operate and automobile is far more prohibitive than to acquire a gun. Written tests are a prerequisite for permits, permits are a prerequisite for road tests, and road tests are a prerequsitite for being issued a license. That process also requires direct supervision until its completion by another licensed driver, with restrictions. Being an automobile owner with a license doesn't even grant you the right to operate the vehicle, because you need to buy insurance, to protect others from the risk you pose by operating the vehicle. 

Now, compare this to the ease with which you can acquire a fire arm, via the permit process or private sale, or the ease with which you can operate a firearm, via family or friend. The whole "auto accidents cause way more deaths, and we aren't regulating them" argument is, in fact, wholly disingeneous. The industry is heavily refulated, despite its intent of use being wholly benign.

I see what you're saying, and agree with you entirely. Hand guns and drink driving should be banned as soon as possible.

i was making the point that the suicide data posted there is dubious

in terms of car regulations that stuff is all great and everything but the use of alcohol renders it all null and void and sure its illegal to drink and drive but people still drive under the influence anyway

Such a naive and ill informed perspective. There are instances of groups who never resort to violence who get their way because they did not resort to violence. And there are instances of groups getting themselves annihilated because they resorted to violence.  And you don't even have to go that far back to find examples where non-violent opposition lead to the overthrow of regimes, the Orange revolution being an example.  

There are many factors that go into the people successfully or unsuccessfully ousting a corrupt or tyrannical regime by means other than the ballot box. And guns is not a common element to either success of failure. So read a bit more history than just evoking the Holocaust as the reason why everyone should have guns and arm themselves against an hypothetical scenario that is unlikely to ever happen in a stable democracy. There are far more stable and peaceful democracies around the world that have sensible gun ownership laws, including restrictions on carrying, licencing and bans on certain types of guns than there are peaceful and stable democracies that have a constitutionally entrenched right to own guns allowing carry of hidden weapons around in public.

well don't forget we should ban knives before hand guns since they kill more people

so start with that 

no one shall be allowed to chop their vegetables!

You can't, but! We do know that suicide is very often a spontaneus act. The things that may drive someone to want to kill themselves are long term, but the idea of suicide itself, is often caused by a single event or emotion, normally less than 10 minutes before the attempt. We also know that people to try to kill themselves with guns are much more sucessful than those who don't.

So would some of those people still have killed themselves? Of course, but acess to a firearm gave them a quick, and highly effective means of doing so.

This is a good thread. I think I'll take my leave of it while it is still good and not stick around until it makes me sad.

I besshhh yur tyrnn stull mah kerrrr...dissss is MINE keys...I'm gud *hiccup* Jus han me muh gun...thunks muchos grasheeessss