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CritaCorn t1_irfziwb wrote

I have to ask

Has anyone wanted to end it but stopped b/c “oh look it’s locked, guess I’ll put it on hold?”

I get the other reasons, kids etc this is a real question. Honestly it works?

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zombiemann t1_irg66vs wrote

If they gave away a hundred thousand locks, and it was enough to stop just 1 suicide, it would be money well spent.

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jw_esq t1_irgez67 wrote

Even small barriers work. Putting Tylenol in blister-packs and limiting number of pills per box had a huge effect in the UK, as another example.

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speckyradge t1_irhl52h wrote

I need to find the article again but yes. The UK did a lot of research in to preventing suicide and did a couple of simple things. The most common method of suicide was OTC painkiller overdose. They stopped you being able to buy more than 16 paracetamol (acetaminophen) at a time and they had to packaged in individual blister packs and not bottles.

They reckoned if you could delay someone's ability to take act on taking their own life by about 10 minutes, the probability of them following through goes down drastically. Buying multiple packs from different shops and then individually popping out a load of pills created that delay.

90% of people who attempt suicide and fail, do not reattempt. Americans don't attempt suicide much more frequently than other nations, but the success rate of firearms suicides (which are disproportionately represented in America) is far higher than any other method.

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fbtcu1998 t1_irg2yz4 wrote

I couldn't say if it works or not, but in theory any delay is better than nothing. I doubt it would stop anyone who's determined, but it might help with some. The farther they have to go, if they need an extra step to get a key to unlock the gun, get the ammo, etc. they all add time for someone to change their mind. While the delay is slight, it might make a lazy person just say nah. And locks are cheap, so even if it only stops the laziest of the lazy, seems worth it.

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xSciFix t1_irhhkz5 wrote

I've known people who could have the self-knowledge to tell when a bad mental spell is coming on, lock up their guns, and let their SO control the key for a while. Can also take the firing pin out in a pinch. So it works in that sense at least.

I think it might help with lengthening the time someone has to think about what they're doing before the final impulsive decision but I'm not a doctor or anything.

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