Not to feed the troll, but I'll point out the obvious and say that guns can kill random, innocent victims hundreds of feet away from an altercation. You also can't run away from a bullet. A knife is in a completely different league, not to mention it has many legitimate uses. What legitimate uses does a handgun have? Shooting at humans, and shooting at human-shaped paper targets with added points for hitting vital organs.
Oh, and here's another peripherally-related article to match ones from 3cp1.
Suicide sparks questions about gun-range safety
KATHERINE HARDING
August 7, 2007
EDMONTON -- The Wild West Shooting Centre is a popular place for birthdays, stags and people just looking to blow off steam by firing a few rounds.
But the gun range at the West Edmonton Mall was recently the site of a police investigation after a man walked in, rented a gun and fatally shot himself.
The public suicide has triggered questions about whether Canada's 582 gun ranges need stricter rules for firearm rentals, particularly for unlicensed shooters.
While it was the first suicide in the Wild West gun range's seven-year history, another man seriously injured himself there after he attempted to kill himself last month.
Wild West owner Ken Kupsch said the two shooting incidents are crimes, not safety and security issues. Well-trained employees interview every customer who walks in their door to determine whether they are fit to shoot, he said. People who are drunk, high or seem agitated or morose are turned away.
In addition, by law, all shooters who do not possess a firearms licence are supervised constantly by range staff, usually at arm's-length.
Mr. Kupsch told the Edmonton Sun the unidentified man who shot himself last week "didn't show any sign that he might be committing suicide."
Mr. Kupsch said he isn't sure what other measures he could put in place to prevent suicides, but he plans to seek advice from owners of firing ranges in the United States who have long grappled with this problem.
While national statistics on gun-range suicides are not closely tracked on either side of the border, it appears they are more common in the United States. Some U.S. firing ranges have stopped renting firearms to people who come in alone. Others require deeper background checks on potential customers. There has even been a call for state lawmakers to place either a multiple-day waiting period or a complete ban on gun rentals.
James Bachynsky, co-owner of the Shooting Edge Inc. gun range in Calgary, said it's a "matter of luck" there has never been a suicide at his facility. He said more staff training or tighter rules on gun rentals are not the answer to eliminating fire-range suicides because both are already adequate.
"We can't read people's minds," he said. "If they are intent on committing suicide, they are going to commit suicide. If anything, maybe the question is: Are suicide-prevention programs adequate? ... Because it's not a firearms-safety issue, it's a mental-health issue."
He said laws governing Canada's firing ranges are quite strict, especially the requirement that all customers without firearm licences need to be constantly supervised.
The Canada Firearms Centre, a division of the RCMP that licenses the country's 861 gun clubs and 582 firing ranges, does not require that staff working at these facilities receive extra training to recognize and deal with suicidal customers. It is up to each gun club and range to decide whether they want to offer it, according to an RCMP spokeswoman.
Richard Ramsay, a professor of social work at the University of Calgary and an expert on suicide-prevention training, said most people contemplating suicide usually send out warning signs, which he describes as "invitations."
Prof. Ramsay said that while suicides at gun ranges are extremely rare in Canada, they are not surprising considering how easily accessible a gun is at a range compared with buying one, which can take several months and requires background checks and lots of paperwork.
Prof. Ramsay said specialized training to help gun-range staff not only pick out a suicidal person, but also to teach them where to send the person for help immediately, is available and could save lives.
