Would you ever buy?

[Andy Taylor]

If I was not close to the family I would. Although trxie's story sounds a little creepy. That is a gun I wouldn't want.

[CHS]

Having recently gone through a suicide (step brother jumped off the Golden Gate bridge a couple months ago), I've been bringing questions like this up to myself often.

In the case of my brothers suicide, my first reactions were thinking about concepts such as: would I ever walk across the Golden Gate bridge again, how do I feel about the never-ending proposals to put up a suicide fence, would I feel comfortable driving across the bridge again, etc....

I realized that my brother had a genuine mental issue. A suicide fence that day may have saved him THAT DAY, but certainly wouldn't have saved him from killing himself EVENTUALLY. Perhaps even later that day.

So I am opposed to a Golden Gate Bridge suicide fence. I would proudly walk across the bridge and stand at the light post where he jumped, and I will think of him fondly when I drive across the bridge the next time I'm in the bay area.

Gun wise, it's just an object. If it belonged to someone close to me that killed themselves, I would absolutely keep the gun if nothing more than as a memory to that person. I may or may not shoot it, would depend on all the circumstances.

If it belonged to someone else that I did not know, or didn't know well or wasn't close to, again I wouldn't have any issues with buying/owning that gun.

I wouldn't, however, go out and buy a suicide gun "just because". I would not be one of those guys to own a gun like that just to show off at parties: "Look guys, some dude blew his head off with this gun!". No, that's just messed up.

[big103]

^ Sorry to hear I have had close people to me commit suicide not a great feeling. Well here is my story went to a gunsmith here about a year ago to get a pump .17 break down fixed wouldn't go back to gather. Go to the shop gunsmith comes out with a pistol in his hand gloves on and a rag wiping it down. Say a comment like you cant clean them that well after something like this to the gun counter guy, looking at the gun. I think what ever. Picks my gun up starts looking at it see if it can be fixed. I ask him what the problem with the revolver after he gives me back mine. I could see pits in it and the bluing looked like something had dripped across it. He say that a guy had killed himself with it and it had sat in the blood for a couple days after he did it. He was cleaning it for a family member who wanted it back. He told me not to worry about it he had it sitting in cleaning solution for a couple days. Wish he had told me that before touching my rifle that way he could have changed his gloves.
But back to the question would i buy a gun used in a suicide? Probably not unless it is a rear piece. Or something that is historical. Even then it would still have to think about it.

[SGGear]

Depends on the price. Don't blame the gun for the suicide, blame the idiot that offed himself

+++1

[Boltz]

Yes, at least you'll know it works

Unless it had a FTE or FTL the next round But to answer the question, it would depend on who the person is like.

[chad68]

It shouldn't make a difference but it must make some because I sure the hell wouldn't buy one, no matter how good a deal it is.

[RollingCode3]

A big hell no... I want to have a good night sleep

[Thefeeder]

><

Not even if you gave it to me......no way!

[Uriah02]

As long as the weapon is still in good condition, why not? I don't believe inanimate objects can be cursed/possessed/have bad mojo.

[stillwater562]

Not interested -guns are to easy to come by, don't need any with a history like that but on the other hand, what you don't know won't kill you, who's to say some of the older guns we now own weren't used in a suicide and we just don't know it. Oh well, clean em good!

[calwoodbutcher]

My step-dad had real quality of life issues. Woke up one day having had enough of all of it. made it to the closet, removed a .22 pistol, sat down on the bed, inserted it in his mouth and ended the pain. This was in Phoenix. A year later the po po wrote a letter to Moms asking if she wanted the gun back. She asked me if I wanted it. My wife was adamantly uposed believing it would bring some bad memories into the house (he was a great guy), so I said no. I don't know what eventually happened to it.

[mayo 111]

my first handgun. a smith and wesson model 36, was used in a suicide. I dont mind. I dont feel as if its tainted or anything like that. some may think its a little inconsiderate when I say it, but at least I knew the gun worked before I bought it... and I love this gun. though when i tell some of my friends they no longer want to touch it anymore, but I dont brag about someone killing themselves with the gun. It was sold to the gun store at a police auction, and sold to me at a fair price. my other choice was paying 800 for a brand new snub nose with the internal lock. where as this gun was practically brand new, except for the case number etched in the side. although I also have no idea who the person was who committed suicide, but if you know who the person was who committed suicide, I dont know how I would feel about that..

[chad68]

Not interested -guns are to easy to come by, don't need any with a history like that but on the other hand, what you don't know won't kill you, who's to say some of the older guns we now own weren't used in a suicide and we just don't know it. Oh well, clean em good!

That's diffrerent. With a situation like that you could just tell yourself it's just an old cool gun. Not knowing the guns history is a lot different than having somebody say, "some dude blew the top of his head off with this thing, wanna buy it?"

Ummm no.

If somebody killed themselves and I just simply didn't know about it, is a lot different than knowing and still buying the gun. Same thing with a car, house or heck anything for that matter. There are plenty of things one can buy that aren't accociated with previous owner and death.

This brings up an interseting thought though. For those that are familular with Nor Cal ranges back when Montana Hawk was in business in RP. The rumor I heard is a guy rented a gun at the range and blew his head off, which is I'm guessing had something to do with why they closed down. But before they did close, did they keep renting that gun out to people or you think it ended up at the PD as evidence? Or any other range suicide for that matter.

[xrMike]

No way, bad juju!

[Stonewalker]

Strange question, but yes.