Daylia, I think your point about guns is well taken. People commit suicide because they cannot bear the pain they are experiencing (either emotional or physical pain, usually emotional, sometimes both). Given that most suicide methods carry the risk of further pain, they are not easy to contemplate. There's taking pills, of course, but what if the dosage isn't right and you simply wake up in misery in the hospital? More pain. Shooting oneself appears to be the surest way of a QUICK exit, with no physical pain. Jumping off a tall building involves the terror during the fall. Nobody wants that. Drowning does not appear very inviting. Even less so does hanging. It's no surprise to me that people who have a gun handy are somewhat more likely than not to use it if they want to "check out".

Since I feel virtually certain that consciousness survives death, I do not much like the idea of shooting myself, and then having to deal with all the repercussions in Spirit and on other people.

It's a miserable business. Damn depressing. No easy way out whatsoever. It's enough to make a person think of doing away with himself!

Hmmm. Seem to have come full circle here, and ended up at a dead stop.

I figure if I did not believe in an afterlife, I would be far more inclined to commit suicide in difficult times. It would be a handy escape, you see. If you cannot escape, then what's the use of just accumulating more bad karma?

Bill - too bad we don't live in the same town. We could talk over coffee and trade books.