Gun Related Teen Suicide Summary

In the article "The Number of Gun-Related Teen Suicides is exaggerated," David B. Kopel insists that removing firearms from homes would not reduce the rate of teen suicide.Kopel says, "Many gun-control advocates assert that removing firearms from the home would reduce the rate of teen suicide". "While the percentage of teen suicide by firearms is high in the United States, the numbers have remained stable for many years." This paper will analyze Kopel's essay from the perspective of a gun-control advocate, with the help of the perspective developed in an article by Christopher Scanlan, "Guns in the Home Contribute to Teen Suicide." The introductory section of Kopel's article states that gun-control advocates have exaggerated
The concluding results were that there seemed to be no evidence that any of the gun-control laws had a statistical effect on suicide rates in teens. A first point of analysis has to do with Kopel's statement that gun-control advocates have exaggerated the extent of teen suicides by firearms.Kopel insist that the percentage of teen suicide has remained stable for many years. From the mid-1950 to the late 1970's, teenage suicide rose sharply, and most of the increase was due to gun suicides.Since then, the teenage suicide rate has remained relatively stable and so has the percentage of suicides involving guns. Gun-control advocates like Christopher Scanlan, who wrote the article "Guns in the Home Contribute to Teen Suicide," believe that gun-control advocates haven't exaggerated the extent of teen suicides by firearms.Scanlan contends, "The easy availability of guns contributes to the high rate of teen
As was stated earlier in this paper, Kleck analyzed suicide rates and gun laws in every American city with a population over 100,000. He took into account all the factors that might affect suicide, such as race, religion, economic situations, and nineteen different gun-control laws. The result was that Kleck found no evidence that any of the gun-control laws had a statistical effect on suicide rates. There, gun control laws are much stricter than in the United States; however, teenage suicide rose sharply during the late 1970's and early 1980's.Teen suicides often go unnoticed in the national debate over firearm violence and gun control.According to Scanlan, in a nationwide survey of youth suicide prevention programs, none reported a major effort to limit gun access. According to Kopel, the Washington Post stated, "Teenagers in homes with guns are 76 times more likely to kill themselves than teenagers living in homes without guns".Kopel says, "Given the lack of evidence that gun control reduced suicide, anti-gun activists have to resort to factoids to prove their