[roundandround]

I wouldn't consider that distortion. Its a significant problem that firearms are highly successful suicide on the first impulse. Children who try another means are much more likely to have a chance to contemplate if they really want to kill themselves.

[buzzert]

I'm calling it a distortion, because it's often used as a dishonest portrayal of how prevalent gun violence is in the US. Usually by the media, who wants attention grabbing headlines, and don't really care how the numbers are manipulated to peddle to their readers' selection bias.

[DanBC]

It's US government agencies that call death by suicide a form of violence, and that's the reason that death by suicide involving a gun is a form of gun violence.

This is despite all the weird laws in the US against collecting, analysing, and reporting statistics.