Prevent Suicide: Ban Assault Detergent

In Japan, a county pretty much without guns (at least legally), 32,155 people killed themselves in 2006. This makes Japan, according to authorities there, the ninth highest suicide rate in the world.

The latest rage to off yourself? Simple laundry detergent, mixed with simple household cleansers. CBS News has the details.

How does this square with the antis contention that if we would only do away with personal firearms, suicide will go away? While more people in America commit suicide annually (the most recent figures I could find were 32,637 deaths in 2005), as a percentage of the overall national population, the rate of suicide in the U.S. -- a nation where personal self defense and firearms freedoms are cherished -- was much lower.

Hmmm . . .