We just lost another warrior. Bob Owens of Bearing Arms has died.

[Stoutcat]

Yes, we are indeed diminished. I've been following Bob since his early Confederate Yankee days. He was one of the main reasons I got my LTC.

https://bearingarms.com/jenn-j/2017/05/09/we-are-diminished/

 

[FPrice]

Did not know him but I think you are correct.

My prayers that his family and friends find some consolation during this time of mourning.

 

[xtry51]

I just dug into this. Stories are hinting at suicide due to a FB post from his phone, but say he was found outside his car? This sounds pretty sketchy given he was posting normally on all channels and talking about finishing his book.

 

[Stoutcat]

I just dug into this. Stories are hinting at suicide due to a FB post from his phone, but say he was found outside his car? This sounds pretty sketchy given he was posting normally on all channels and talking about finishing his book.

Police apparently haven't completely ruled out foul play, but that final FB post seems to indicate suicide. Heartbreaking.

 

[xtry51]

Police apparently haven't completely ruled out foul play, but that final FB post seems to indicate suicide. Heartbreaking.

A FB post is pretty close to the worst evidence possible to support anything.

 

[Glockster30]

Police apparently haven't completely ruled out foul play, but that final FB post seems to indicate suicide. Heartbreaking.

Very well could be based on his FB post.

http://heavy.com/news/2017/05/bob-o...s-guns-dead-suicide-possible-obituary-robert/

 

[xtry51]

I'll just say again, not exactly rocket science to whack someone and then use their phone to immediately post a "suicide note".

It's not like it's hard to read the smudges on your phone or grab your dead hand for the fingerprint scan, if you even lock your phone at all.


Someone found dead with a FB post about suicide is not an open and shut case when that person has no previous signs of depression.

 

[white feather]

Did he accidentally shoot himself in the dick? Was there a barrel nearby?

 

[rwl1955]

https://townhall.com/columnists/katiepavlich/2017/05/09/draft-n2324194

 

[Obie1]

From Andrew Branca: http://legalinsurrection.com/2017/05/we-are-diminished-bob-owens-passes-at-46/#more-212361

 

[TomMontana]

That FB post screams hacked. It looks like in his last article, he was shilling for Springfield/calling the TTAG writer a fake news reporter. Better check for revenge prints.

https://bearingarms.com/bob-o/2017/05/02/rock-river-springfield-armory-pull-imfa-carve-fiasco/

 

[MaverickNH]

The Death of a Gun-Rights Warrior

Bob Owens was one of the firearms industry’s most prominent, passionate defenders. Then he turned his gun on himself.

www.theatlantic.com

Over 6 years later, The Atlantic turns the suicide of Bob Owens into a gun control story. There’s way too much there to read (I skimmed it myself) but the motive comes toward the end. The NSSF shared a webinar intended for FFLs that intends to provide some guidance on selling guns to people presenting with suicidal symptoms.

”In 2021, the NSSF, which declined to provide a comment for this story, hosted a webinar on suicide prevention for gun-range operators and firearms dealers. Two gregarious consultants—John “JB” Bocker and John “JC” Clark—ran the presentation. They ticked through the signs of depression, and gave some guidance on how to predict when a customer might be suicidal.

“How does your most common customer come into the store?” Clark asked. “They’re excited, right? They’re going to buy their first firearm, or they’re going to buy a new firearm, or something new to the market. Or they want to receive training. They’re excited about it. They have a certain amount of energy. So when you compare the atypical customer to these different scenarios, then you may have a situation where somebody is in crisis, where somebody needs help.” He continued, “Moving, speaking slowly, restlessness—all of these things could be signs you need to be aware of.”

The author asks a single clinician (PhD Psychology) to review the video, who judges it “extremely unrealistic”.

At my request, Amanda Spray, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine, reviewed a recording of their presentation. “Untrained individuals would find it very difficult to predict who is experiencing suicidal ideation,” she told me. She called the approach, with its inherent conflicts between sales and public health, “extremely unrealistic.”

The story finishes with the author meeting with Owens’ wife, who ponders the relationship between men, guns and her husband’s death.

”One day, while we were eating lunch at a Japanese restaurant, I asked if she was aware that gun suicide, according to the data, seemed to pose a unique threat to men like her husband. She set down her fork and folded her arms. “I know,” Christine said, but she believes the real problem is that so many boys are raised to equate vulnerability with weakness. “I don’t think it’s about guns. I think it’s about men and their feelings—they’re still bad at dealing with them.”

Bob, she said, wanted to take care of the people around him. Like many men, she went on, “he had to be tough.” She thinks her husband would have found a way to kill himself no matter what. “Besides,” she said, “how would I have kept Bob away from guns?”

The author leaves readers thinking something must be done about guns. Probably the most favored gun control position, as “something” is anything and everything.

 

[Reptile]

Tragic.

I think gun owners are afraid to get help for fear of losing their guns.

If I was ever at that point, I’d sooner check myself in the hospital. I’d hope anyway.

There is more to life than just guns.

I’m sure lots of gun owners have been suicidal and lost their guns.

At least they’re still alive with their families.