If someone is serious about killing themselves, they’ll do it by whatever means. A waiting period for a gun isn’t going to deter them from a handful of pills, a tree at 90 miles an hour or jumping off a bridge.
Two men,families known to me,took their lives by jumping in front of trains.
Ban all trains.
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After responding to suicides for 25 years... I can say unequivocally that it is the least imaginative and worst way to kill yourself. There are many other painless and more effective ways to do it. People often shoot themselves and do not die and leave themselves permanently disfigured or disabled, or they suffer horribly for extended periods before dying. And they typically leave a horrible mess for others to clean up.
I learned that working in the prison. If someone wants to kill themselves, they will. Even if you strap them down, they will find a way.
Same with mass killers. Take their gun, they will use something else.
I agree. The determined person will either choose another method or wait out the waiting period.
I knew someone who shot himself, some years ago. It was a complete shock to everyone who knew him. Putting things together, later, it was obvious that he had been planning suicide for quite a long time. He would not have been deterred by a waiting period.
I don’t think that most people who commit suicide do so on impulse.
And if they want to do it by a gun all they have to do is to go to a shooting range and rent one. Then they put everyone else at the range in danger.