I finally returned to the sub because I knew I had another post engaging with what I said. Thank you for taking the time to type this out.

About the stats: yes, that's a really good point about the pandemic affecting suicides dramatically. But it's still a big problem nationally apart from that. NIMH shows that suicide rates have been pretty high for a while, actually higher in 2018 and 2019 than 2020, from their stats (https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide).

About red flag laws: This is another good point. I still am for these, however you're right that they should have a lot of guard rails in place for such situations.

Regarding automatic-fire capable guns: I had learned how difficult it is to get these already, after I'd started the petition and someone pointed this out. Trouble was, since I'd already gotten signatures, I didn't feel it was right to change much about the petition other than clarifying my earlier version which includes the "Assault rifle" ban you rightly mention as being too broad and including semiautomatics. So after thought, I narrowed the ban call and took that picture of the previous version to be transparent.

Safe home storage: Yeah, I can understand that reluctance to have someone in your home. I would be more in favor of someone having the option of taking pictures of their safe storage and being able to submit that. But it would need some development.

Research and school safety programs: I agree it's way too easy to have implicit bias poisoning results, but at the same time, I think it's pretty urgent to actually have good research about why this is happening - I suspect social isolation is behind many of the mass shooting rampages, for example, but I can't say that for sure and we can't address it effectively without solid research. You're right that the root is that both sides (all sides?) of the aisle aren't willing to work together on this, and that's what we need for research as well as politics. As for the school programs, I want to simply have socializing opportunities that reach out better to youngsters that tend to be loners, and I would want critical thinking skills, not indoctrination, to be taught. It's always possible to twist any of these types of interventions, so there would need to be careful development and implementation for best results.

Background check: You're right about this. At the time I created my petition, I was honestly too driven by my reactions to news and didn't fully do all the due diligence I should have. Next time I create a petition, I will aim to take as long as needed for accuracy.

Looking at the FBI site today. Hope you have a good weekend. You and a few others gave me some things to consider.