Firearm legislation reform in the European Union

[Drizzt]

Firearm legislation reform in the European Union: impact on firearm availability, firearm suicide and homicide rates in Austria

Nestor D. Kapusta, MD
Department of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy and Institute for Medical Psychology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria

Elmar Etzersdorfer, MD
Furtbach Hospital for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Stuttgart, Germany

Christoph Krall, PhD
Section of Medical Statistics, Medical University of Vienna, Austria

Gernot Sonneck, MD
Institute for Medical Psychology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria

Correspondence: Dr Nestor D. Kapusta, Medical University of Vienna, Department of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, Waehringer Guertel 18–20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria. Tel: +43 1 40400 3064; fax: +43 1 4277 9656; email: [email protected]

Declaration of interest None.

Background The availability of firearms in homes and at aggregate levels is a risk factor for suicide and homicide. One method of reducing access to suicidal means is the restriction of firearm availability through more stringent legislation.

Aims To evaluate the impact of firearm legislation reform on firearm suicides and homicides as well as on the availability of firearms in Austria.

Method Official statistics on suicides, firearm homicides and firearm licences issued from 1985 to 2005 were examined. To assess the effect of the new firearm law, enacted in 1997, linear regression and Poisson regressions were performed using data from before and after the law reform.

Results The rate of firearm suicides among some age groups, percentage of firearm suicides, as well as the rate of firearm homicides and the rate of firearm licences, significantly decreased after a more stringent firearm law had been implemented.

Conclusions Our findings provide evidence that the introduction of restrictive firearm legislation effectively reduced the rates of firearm suicide and homicide. The decline in firearm-related deaths seems to have been mediated by the legal restriction of firearm availability. Restrictive firearm legislation should be an integral part of national suicide prevention programmes in countries with high firearm suicide rates.

http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/abstract/191/3/253

Any decent researcher would blow this out of the water in half a second, simply because they do not look at whether the overall rate of suicides dropped, only that of firearm suicides. If the overall rate does not drop, then you still have no net effect.

:banghead:

 

[bumm]

>Any decent researcher would blow this out of the
> water in half a second, simply because they do
> not look at whether the overall rate of suicides
> dropped, only that of firearm suicides. If the
> overall rate does not drop, then you still have
> no net effect.

Yes, but they found what they were LOOKING for...
Marty

 

[Fburgtx]

Sure, restricting guns might lower the incidence of FIREARM-RELATED suicides and homicides. Did it lower the OVERALL rates of suicide and homicide??? That's like saying if we ban motorcycles, then the rate of motorcycle accidents will decrease.

I just don't understand what makes some people tick. They think that the worst possible thing that can happen to someone is death. I personally believe that the worst thing that can happen to someone is having to live your entire life as a child. By that, I mean either living in a vegetative state (someone having to feed you and wipe your rear end), or living under an oppressive government (where you depend on others for everything, and must be granted permission to do anything). It seems like the whole world is turning into bunch of children looking for their mommy (government) to tell them what to do and when to do it.

 

[armoredman]

Research bent on proving a point, anything that challenges thier goal is ignored. Brady style research.

 

[Novus Collectus]

I got into an argument once with some people over at the British newspaper's forum (The Guardian) and I mentioned the cause of suicide has nothing to do with the availability of firearms when looking at statistics because if one looks at Japan where there are no handguns in civillian hands, the incidents of suicide is higher than in the US (I said incidents, not rate. Their rate is a few times higher than ours because they not only have more suicides overall, they have a smaller population).

One person in who lives in England responded by saying removing the easy access to a suicide method buys them time to stop their impulse thought. They used the example of putting fencing around bridges so people can't just drive all the way there or walk for half an hour on impulse and then jump off the bridge. So when i pointed out it must not work because the suicide rate in the UK has risen and is higher than in gun ridden US, he or she had no rational response.

When I mentioned many Japanese suicides was by bullet....bullet train that is...a Japanese person said that removing the impulse by making potential suicides know that their families will be sued by the rail lines for their suicide (they actually do and it is something like $100,000 or more) has worked very well in Japan, not only did I discover that since they have been suing families of suicides since 1999, the number of bullet train suicides has increased. Also since 1999, overall suicide in Japan has risen immensely since 1999.....and all without real bullets to use.

I love arguing using the numbers games with the anti gun Europeans because the numbers are on our side so much. They have fallen for the one sided twist and spin for so long that when they are exposed to the rest of the story they are in total shock where their world view starts to fall apart or they go into total denial.

 

[Standing Wolf]

The availability of firearms in homes and at aggregate levels is a risk factor for suicide and homicide.

If you chop the tails off successive generations of rats, they'll soon be born without tails.

 

[Sharps-shooter]

The availability of firearms in homes and at aggregate levels is a risk factor for suicide and homicide.

If you chop the tails off successive generations of rats, they'll soon be born without tails.

Huh? No they won't. I haven't tried this myself, with rats, but dogs and sheep keep being born with tails even if their parents' are docked.

Are you trying to say that the study is starting out by presenting an incorrect assumption as its underlying foundation?

 

[Standing Wolf]

Are you trying to say that the study is starting out by presenting an incorrect assumption as its underlying foundation?

Nope. I did say it. À priori assumptions have been masquerading as "science" a long, long time.

 

[madmike]

There are no murders by cricket bat in the US.

Therefore, the UK should ban cricket bats to lower its murder rate.

 

[romma]

cuz nobody commits suicide with anything other than a firearm...

 

[Tyris]

If you chop the tails off successive generations of rats, they'll soon be born without tails.

A student of Lamarckian evolution I see ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamarckism


-T