Accidents often involve children and negligent adults and I think they should be persecuted (and not solely prosecuted) as it represents a fundamental breach of the responsibility not only of gun-ownership but adult responsibility in that regard.

1) that assumes gun ownership has any bearing on someone's freedom. I'd say that's very much disputed. 2) a gun offering easier impulsive suicide strikes me as a good reason to curb their proliferance. 3) accidentally shooting yourself in the face is quite different from accidentally doing something that doesn't involve the destructive power of a firearm.

My point is that for many people, the 'freedom' argument doesn't really hold. Whether it does or doesn't, I do think the suicide/accident angle is a very serious one.

I've known people who have attempted suicide, and I am convinced that the risk to their lives would've been greater if they had a gun. I also know many people who have done really stupid things, whether as kids or teenagers or adults. I'm happy guns weren't in the mix.