David B. Kopel

About the author: David B. Kopel, a law professor at New York University, is the author of many articles and books on gun control, including The Samurai, the Mountie, and the Cowboy: Should America Adopt the Gun Controls of Other Democracies, and Guns: Who Should Have Them"

Statistics linking teen suicides with the availability of guns are blatantly in error. The number of teen suicides began to rise before guns were easily available, and furthermore, the percentage of teen suicides in which guns were used has remained stable for decades. Evidence from other countries with strict gun control laws proves that restricting guns will not reduce the number of teen suicides.

"Teen-agers in homes with guns are 75 times more likely to kill themselves than teenagers...