Reply #3: Another tragedy [View All]

[MrBenchley]

This is a national problem too oftne over looked.

"Most people think of suicide as a solitary act, affecting only one person. Yet, the effects of murder-suicides go far beyond the shooter: family, friends, co-workers, and absolute strangers are among those who are gunned down as a result of these acts of desperation. During the six-month period tallied in this study, there were 293 suicides—yet the total number of deaths was 662. More people died from murders associated with the suicide—369—than from the suicides themselves. These numbers call into grave question the common belief that suicide, especially firearms suicide, is a solitary act that affects only the shooter.
The catalytic component in murder-suicide is the use of a firearm. Every major murder-suicide study ever conducted has shown that a firearm—with its unmatched combination of lethality and availability—is the weapon most often used to murder the victims, with the offenders then turning the gun on themselves."

http://www.vpc.org/studies/amercont.htm