Glenn Beck: Object Lesson on Gun Suicide

In January 2008, Glenn Beck cheered a state legislator who had introduced a bill to allow college students to carry concealed handguns on campus. Dismissing those who would oppose such a measure, Beck told his viewers, "That's what guns do. They save lives." Unless, of course, you're suicidal and there's a handgun available. Who says this? Uh, Glenn Beck.

It's not surprising that when Glenn Beck felt suicidal, the means he envisioned to end his life was a handgun. The success of a suicide attempt is dramatically influenced by the lethality of the means chosen. Firearms are by far the most lethal means, and handguns are the most common firearm used in suicide. The vast majority of people who kill themselves with a handgun aren't more suicidal--they just had the bad luck to have access to the most efficient suicide tool available. However, Beck is so confused by inconvenient facts that just three months after his "jarring" experience he can falsely offer the absolutist mantra that guns save lives. Period. The result? Glenn Beck as an object lesson on the link between gun availability and suicide as seen in this new VPC YouTube video.

 

Follow Josh Sugarmann on Twitter: www.twitter.com/VPCinfo

Comments

[garagenoir]

04:48 PM on 03/18/2010

Care about gun safety? U.S. Out of Glennbeckistan NOW! on Facebook.

[Roy in Canada]

07:51 AM on 03/18/2010

And Canada, with greater restrictions on firearms, also has a higher a higher suicide rate than the U.S. Tell me Josh, are you not the least bit ashamed at the nonsense you post?....

[djcrsn]

12:36 PM on 03/18/2010

Apparently not--look at how many of his blogs are trying to demonize CCW holders (who are among the most law abiding folks out there)

[mike102]

04:03 AM on 03/18/2010

Josh, look at all of the countries that have higher suicide rates than the US. In many of them, people are forbidden to even own firearms.

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

[Libby123]

05:38 PM on 03/17/2010

I have no problem whatsoever with any business or school or private home that prohibits handguns on its premises. The fewer handguns lying around ready to hand, the smaller chance I have of being accidentally shot by some fool who thinks he's in a video game or he's Marshall Dillon, ready to save the day when some other gun-toting fool shows up. But let's get real. A person who is actually suicidal and determined to end his or her own life is going to find a way to do it, gun or no gun. I can't be sure, but isn't the video on this page taken out of context? Isn't it from when Beck had appendicitis and he's whining about how sick he felt?

[Dimensio]

11:16 PM on 03/17/2010

" The fewer handguns lying around ready to hand, the smaller chance I have of being accidentally shot by some fool who thinks he's in a video game or he's Marshall Dillon, ready to save the day when some other gun-toting fool shows up."

I am certain, then, that you can provide references demonstrating that civilians who legally carry concealed firearms frequently engage in such behaviour. Please do so.

[Libby123]

10:12 AM on 03/18/2010

I never said civilians who legally carry firearms "frequently" go around randomly shooting people. I said, I don't mind when there are no guns around. I mind very much when a fool who sat 6 feet from me in a restaurant actually DROPPED his handgun from its holster while he took off his overcoat! When the weapon broke a plate as it fell, it attracted attention. One woman screamed; a man reached into his jacket toward his own cross-draw. My dinner companion knows firearms. He saw the weapon was loaded illegally (number of rounds in the magazine) and that the safety was OFF! The manager came over. My friend pointed out the safety being off and the weapon not being secured in its holster by the strap. The man said he had a concealed-carry permit. My friend argued the permit was violated by the illegal magazine.
This was a 4 star restaurant. At least two people had firearms. One was careless, the other was willing to draw and "defend" the entire crowd. Who would have been in the line of fire? Maybe me. I'm not afraid of guns. I've handled and used them since I was 6. I own 2. But I can't count on others to know how to handle them.

[ScottM1A]

01:48 AM on 03/18/2010

What? Really? You are going to use the Wild West argument? Gun laws and carry laws have been getting less and less restrictive for the last 25 years and we see almost no violence from legal gun owners. The state of Utah allows guns on campus and has for a few years, no massacres or accidental shootings. No carriers playing Marshall Dillon. As far as the rest of your post I agree completely. When reading Josh you need to remember he tends to distort things.
He said this once upon a time "Assault weapons—just like armor-piercing bullets, machine guns, and plastic firearms—are a new topic. The weapons' menacing looks, coupled with the public's confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons—anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun—can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons. In addition, few people can envision a practical use for these weapons."
-Josh Sugarmann, Assault Weapons and Accessories in America, 1988
Josh is also a Federal Firearms Licensee meaning the federal government says he can buy and sell guns as a business which is kinda odd when you think about it.

[Libby123]

10:37 AM on 03/18/2010

I most certainly am not using the "Wild West argument". I'm just saying that I'd rather not be around people with guns when I can't be sure of how seriously they take safety issues. Please refer to the incident I related in my reply to Dimensio above. Just because somebody got themselves a permit doesn't mean they know how to properly handle a gun. Yes, they take a little seminar. Yes, they take a little test. The guy in the restaurant got his permit then trotted off and bought an illegal clip. He didn't have the sense to pay attention to the part of the lecture which told him that if you change the magazine, you invalidate the permit. He also didn't think it would be important to have the safety on or to fasten the strap on his holster. These are the people who squawk the loudest about their Second Amendment rights, but forget that the words "well regulated" precede the word "Militia."

[Douva]

05:27 PM on 03/17/2010

I think we can all agree than Glenn Beck is not the sharpest tool in the shed (even though he is, most definitely, a tool).

With that said, anyone who wants to know the FACTS surrounding the debate over whether or not to allow licensed concealed carry of handguns on college campuses should check out this page:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/16488074/Students-for-Concealed-Carry-on-Campus-SCCC-Handbook

[seatea1967]

04:46 PM on 03/17/2010

Sooo.... we're supposed to ban handguns so that people who decide to commit suicide will have to do it some other, statistically less successful way? Ummm.... ok, dude. You go with that.

[simplemee]

04:53 PM on 03/17/2010

No, we don't have to ban handguns, but neither do we have to permit them on college campuses, either.

[Thirdpower]

06:33 PM on 03/17/2010

The VPC calls for both.

[mike102]

03:56 AM on 03/18/2010

Since Cho didn't require anyone's permission, perhaps you should rethink your position.

[djcrsn]

07:02 PM on 03/17/2010

If guns are banned (which the VPC does advocate), people who are suicidal will stop out of a 20th story window or step in front of a train or attack a cop with a screwdriver

[Sparky-Marky]

04:33 PM on 03/17/2010

I wasn't aware that Beck attempted suicide. Couldn't even get that right, could he. What a shame. Well, more fodder for my website http://ExposeGlennBeck.com. Thanks Josh.

[Ohio9]

02:38 AM on 03/29/2010

Except you can clearly see on the video he didn't actually attempt suicide.

Does "exposing" Beck mean printing false stories about him? Personally I think the facts about him are good enough for doing so.

[molonlabe]

04:32 PM on 03/17/2010

"Glenn Beck as an object lesson on the link between gun availability and suicide.."

So your point is that Glen Beck's gun was defective? I mean, he's still alive and all.

[simplemee]

04:53 PM on 03/17/2010

I don't think he actually tried to commit suicide, more so that he contemplated it.

[Mad Shoeshiner]

03:56 PM on 03/17/2010

The Japanese experience does not seem to support your hypothesis. While the Japanese gun suicide rate is one-fiftieth of America's, the overall suicide rate in Japan is nearly twice as high as America's, and teenage? suicide is 30 per cent more frequent in Japan than America.

[molonlabe]

04:23 PM on 03/17/2010

Stick around a while, MS. You're going to be amazed by all of Sugarmann's unsustainable hypotheses.

[Tommygun264]

06:28 PM on 03/17/2010

You'd have a point if Mr. Sugarmann's argument was that guns cause suicide. His argument is that when firearms are used in a suicide attempt, 85% of the time it results in death, as opposed to other methods, which result in death only 5% of the time. Handguns are highly effective at serving their purpose, which is to kill. They don't cause a person to want to kill themselves, but when people do want to kill themselves, they are much more likely to be successful if they use a handgun.

[Thirdpower]

06:34 PM on 03/17/2010

Or the fact that someone who's serious about killing themselves will use a method likely to succeed while those looking for attention or crying for help will do something else.

[OdinsEye]

11:41 PM on 03/17/2010

Before and after studies of countries which have enacted strict firearm laws has show no decrease in suicides.