Reddit reviews Private Guns, Public Health, New Ed.

I completely agree that suicide is the largest cause of gun deaths (not for homicide, however). I also agree with you that improving mental health and income inequality could change the circumstances of these shootings. I disagree that these are the best approaches to preventing gun deaths. Your argument is predicated on the assumption that these deaths would be inevitable. Are they? If an easy, effective means to kill people wasn't so widely available, would this happen? There is substantial evidence that higher gun availability is strongly correlated with more homicide deaths [here]. In particular for suicide, is mental a critical piece? Absolutely [here]. As for your other comment, a piece worth mentioning is that often people buy guns to protect themselves, though it doesn't necessarily keep people safe. Also a rise in socio-economic status requires political will, money and time to take effect. How to prevent gun deaths in the that period?

My last comment is that "more gun control" isn't specific enough. Some policies (waiting periods, regulations in design of guns) have some evidence behind them [here)] and [here]. David Hemenway's Private Guns, Public Health is the most comprehensive summary of the research on this subject. I highly recommend reading it.