Lauren Pratte’s Picture Triggers Anti-Gun Agita

By Robert Farago

“I read with disappointment the March 5 Metro article “Fight over Arlington gun store escalates,” psychiatrist Liza H. Gold admits in a letter of the editor. “The Post reproduced Dennis R. Pratte’s photograph of his 16-year-old daughter, Lauren, holding a gun and standing in front of about a dozen guns [above]. In doing so, The Post missed an opportunity to discuss a primary concern this image should evoke: the risk guns pose in the hands of teenagers.” And every time The Post prints a picture of a crime scene it should discuss the importance of armed self-defense. Anyway here’s Ms. Gold’s logic . . .

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among adolescents, and about 40 percent of teen suicides are committed with firearms. That people younger than 18 cannot legally buy guns is not an obstacle to teen firearm suicides. Generally, they use their parents’ unsecured firearms.

Clicking on Ms. Gold’s link to the World Health Organization, we can examine the WHO’s age-adjusted suicide stats for the decade between 1990 and 2000. The suicide rate in the U.S. was significantly lower than “gun free” Japan’s (13.9 …Read the Rest

Source:: Truth About Guns