Here is the background on the Kansas City Chiefs player who committed suicide after shooting his girlfriend.

Here is the column referenced by Bob Costas by Jason Whitlock.

And here are some facts Bob Costas and Jason Whitlock might not find all that convenient:

According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, 44% of male suicides and 70% of female suicides are NOT committed using a firearm.  Bob and Jason, did you get that part: NOT committed using a firearm. 

While handguns are used in many murders in this country, they are by no means the only object used and in some cases aren't even in the majority.  For example, less than half the murders in Colorado last year were committed by people using firearms of any type.  Here in Texas, less than half our 1,089 murders were committed by people using handguns.  Go here for the FBI table.

Oh, and the number of murders in incidents where handguns were used has been going down recently.

And if Jason Whitlock is still convinced handguns are the problem and we'd be safer without them, I'd encourage him to talk to these people. 

But beyond that, the alluring simplicity of the if-he-just-didn't-have-that-gun argument ignores the complexities of why people kill others in our society, especially in domestic violence cases.

What about the reports that Belcher was abusing prescription drugs and alcohol to cope with football-related head injuries?  I'm not about to start arguing we get rid of football because of this incident, but that's exactly what Whitlock and Costas did.

And aside from the gun control aspect of this story, the hypocrisy of two guys who have made good livings and lots of money by reporting on and continuing to glorify the violent sport they now condemn fans and the league for also glorifying should not be overlooked.

And here's more from Tom Gresham, host of Gun Talk, Sundays from 1-4pm here on News Talk 1230, The Talk of Waco:

The mountain of evidence to contradict his anti-gun assertions looms large and would have been easy to find. Take just two points which belie the charge that the gun drives suicides and murders.

First, there is the comparison with Japan. That island-nation prohibits most citizens from owning guns. It would be the perfect Petri dish for showing how suicides can be prevented by banning guns. The reality turns that on its head, since the suicide rate in Japan approaches (sometimes exceeds) twice that of the U.S. No guns in Japan, but twice the rate of suicides of the U.S., which has perhaps 300 million guns.

Second, there is the example in the U.S. of the effect (or lack of effect) on murder rates when people carry loaded guns.  Twenty years ago few states had laws permitting citizens to carry loaded firearms for their protection. After Florida passed what is known as "shall-issue" concealed carry (requiring the state to issue a permit to any qualified applicant), almost all states followed. In that 20-year period the number of people with carry permits has grown beyond six million, plus several states which require no permit at all for a person to carry a gun for protection.

Over a nearly identical time span, the murder rate in the United States has fallen dramatically. There are millions more guns, millions more gun owners, and millions more people carrying guns for protection, but the murder rate has fallen by nearly half. Even if one doesn't believe that the concealed carry movement actually caused this drop, it would be difficult for anyone to ignore that -- at a minimum -- adding millions of guns, gun owners, and concealed carry participants did not increase the murder rate, which is what CluelessCostas would have you believe.