Who is we? Mental health professionals? Suicide prevention experts?Suicide prevention is the least emphasized aspect of gun violence prevention, but it's impossible to commit to bringing down gun violence statistics without addressing the problem of suicide.
I find it hard to understand how anyone can object to studying the problem of gun suicide rates. Too often these victims are vets, and the debt we owe them requires that we take the issue seriously.
The CDC is prevented from tackling this issue because the gun industry fears that they will recommend a reduction in our gun intake. A gunectomy. Maybe they will, maybe they won't. No one was that thrilled with their preliminary study, which had surprises for everyone.
Because we know the gun suicide rate. We also know that it doesn't matter. Japan, Korea, and the Scandinavian countries all have much higher rates of suicide than the US, they also have very strict gun control. Thus we know that gun control laws would have zero affect on the problem. Suicide prevention is laudable but it IS a mental health issue, not a gun related issue.
Anybody with a brain.