John Kavanagh’s letter heartlessly stated, “Suicides accounted for 54% of all those gun deaths and I doubt if we banned all guns those suicidal people would not have found another way to end their lives.” He “doubts it,” so it must be true?

Kavanagh’s cold assumption itself needed what he ironically called for, “fact-checking,” which should’ve been done.

Though I’m focusing on his suicide remarks, note that whatever convoluted measure he used to describe “only” 447 homicides by rifles in 2021 can’t hide that 20,958 of 48,840 gun deaths in 2021 were indeed homicides. (U.S. gun deaths – usafacts.org)

The reference he cites, statistica.com, indicated the number of total homicides by any means in 2021 was 15,249, appearing unreliable when compared to Pew and usafacts. Some reviews conclude statistica’s sources require scrutiny.

Regardless of Kavanagh casually diminishing the tragedy of suicide, not worth reducing in the staggering 49,000 death count, his leap that without access to firearms a person would still find a way to go through other lethal means is flawed.

From the Harvard School of Public Health:

More people die using a firearm than all other means combined. The proportion was significantly higher in high-gun vs. low-gun states, suggesting that gun availability facilitates death by suicide.

Factors theorized to influence the lethality of a given method: Inherent deadliness; ease of use; accessibility (Given the brief duration of some suicidal crises, a gun in the closet poses a greater risk than a bridge miles away, even if both methods have equal lethality); ability to abort mid-attempt. (More people start an attempt and abort it than carry it through. Methods that can be interrupted without harm offer a window for rescue or change of heart that guns do not.

There are other supportive studies. Kavanagh’s words seem callous and deceitful.