Why no love for the Streetline Special?, How to abuse a Hold Out. Options

[Critias]

Of course, if you follow the RAW rules then...suicide isn't a one-shot deal either.
(Think about it, shooting yourself in the head isn't easier than shooting someone else in the head and follows the same math you just outlined)

Don't forget the blind fire modifiers, unless you do it in front of a mirror. Strictly by RAW, of course.

[Dakka Dakka]

or a smartgun. Besides adding +2 it removes the Blind Fire modifier because of the installed camera.

[kjones]

I remember that in Cryptonomicon, the members of Detachment 2702 were trained in how to shoot themselves in the head, since "it's amazing how many people manage to botch this apparently simple procedure" or something like that. Does anyone know if there's any truth to this?

[D2F]

I remember that in Cryptonomicon, the members of Detachment 2702 were trained in how to shoot themselves in the head, since "it's amazing how many people manage to botch this apparently simple procedure" or something like that. Does anyone know if there's any truth to this?

I don't have any numbers on attempted suicides, but in general, gunshot wounds to the head are a lot less lethal than most people think. From 1982 to 1993, 66 percent of the patients treated at Cook County Hospital in Chicago for gunshot wounds to the head survived. (check here for details)

I figure that while attempted suicides with guns might fare better than that percentage, but there is most likely still a large number of "botched" suicide attempts this way. After all, most people don't even know which part of the brain to destroy in the first place. A majority will probably try to set the gun to their temple. While that may leave then a drooling idiot for the rest of their lives, it will most probably not kill them. Same holds true for the "gun-in-mouth" approach (unless they use shotguns).

[Saint Sithney]

In places which still practice common law, it's illegal to attempt suicide. So, you fail it and you go to jail. How messed up is that?

[D2F]

In places which still practice common law, it's illegal to attempt suicide. So, you fail it and you go to jail. How messed up is that?

The more disturbing question is: How can they justify outlawing suicide in the first place? Or is it just "attempted suicide" that is illegal? Kind of like a "if you wanna do it, make sure you do it right" type of legislation?

[overcannon]

In places which still practice common law, it's illegal to attempt suicide. So, you fail it and you go to jail. How messed up is that?

I think it is for two primary reasons.

The first is that a botched suicide attempt is very expensive. If someone is taken to the emergency room following a botched suicide, it will likely cost a whole lot of money that they will be unwilling to pay. Also, people who act like they are going to jump tend to shut down roadways and cause thousands of dollars of damage in lost productivity.

The second would be that you would have legal grounds to commit them to a mental hospital if they or their family would be unwilling to do so. It seems reasonable to me to assume that people who are committing suicide have some sort of mental problems that ought to be discussed before terminating their lives.

[Dixie Flatline]

I remember that in Cryptonomicon, the members of Detachment 2702 were trained in how to shoot themselves in the head, since "it's amazing how many people manage to botch this apparently simple procedure" or something like that. Does anyone know if there's any truth to this?

I've heard of a .22 round hitting someone's skull near the temple, deflecting, passing under the skin, and exiting on the other side of the head, only doing superficial damage.

Crap that bullets do is living, breathing proof that quantum mechanics probabilities are real.

I forgot who it was, but I believe a female news anchor back in the 70's asked what the most effective way to shoot herself to ensure she was going to die, and was told by medics that a gunshot to the back of the head, near the base of the skull, would obliterate the parts of the brain required to keep you ticking.

Then she shot herself on live television using that specific technique. It worked flawlessly (IMG:style_emoticons/default/indifferent.gif)

Ick... other topic...

[X-Kalibur]

That's because the brainstem contains your medulla, pons, and midbrain. The medulla contains the cardiac, respiratory, vomiting and vasomotor centers and deals with autonomic functions, such as breathing, heart rate and blood pressure.

[D2F]

That's because the brainstem contains your medulla, pons, and midbrain. The medulla contains the cardiac, respiratory, vomiting and vasomotor centers and deals with autonomic functions, such as breathing, heart rate and blood pressure.

All of that is pretty much irrelevant the moment the formatio reticularis and the medulla oblongata are severed. Once the brain ceases to communicate with the rest of the body, death follows.
In other words: Sever the Myelencephalon.

Added advantage: You don't hear the shot.

[Draco18s]

Added advantage: You don't hear the shot.

How do they know?

(Goes along with decapitation gives you about 20 seconds of consciousness, due to lingering blood sugar)

[D2F]

How do they know?

The bullet travels faster than the sound. By the time the sound reaches your ears, the nescessary nerves to transmit their signals will be severed and as a result, the percept is never established (no transmission of the outside stilumli to the auditory storage, let alone working memory).

[SQLCowboy]

I can do that with two good bottles of irish whiskey-total cost about $50.

After the first bottle, you can probably go with a cheap 2nd bottle and save a few bucks.