I'm all for gun control, but if suicide rates are up it's because of our society not because of the tool used to commit the act. Suicide rates are the highest they've ever been in modern history and everyone is largely silent about it. Maybe one day humans will realize that they create society and can change it if they choose
I mean, if someone is suicidal, a tool that has a high chance of failure or a time where the effects can be reversed (like an overdose which might take time to set in and be treatable with prompt hospitalization) is going to lead to fewer deaths than one that is lethal instantly, because some who use it may not try again if they regret it.
Only 1 in 10 people who survive a suicide attempt go on to die by suicide. The number is much the same the world over, regardless of method.
Very few people survive putting a gun in their mouth and pulling the trigger.
There is a record high number of children doing exactly that with their father's guns. I wonder how many of those fathers claimed the gun was to "keep their family safe"? I wonder how many of them taught their children how to load and fire the round that killed them?
The argument is, gun control treats the symptom and not the cause. Personally, I'm mixed on it. I definitely think we should be severely limiting access to automatic weapons, and others along those lines. But too much control over legitimate hunting weapons is an attack on a lifestyle, and I absolutely see the need for handguns now that I live in an area with very large predators.
Instead, I feel we'd be much better off attacking the social injustice that leads people to feel so helpless and lost.