Last spring, my friend David and I took an overdue walk along the Pacific Ocean to catch up.
The sun was bright, but as we talked, David’s world grew increasingly dark. His 25-year marriage was falling apart, his prostate cancer had returned, and two vertebrae remained broken. He couldn’t see a way forward.
A couple days later when I called to check in, I heard something in his voice that alarmed me.
The hopelessness and resignation had deepened. When I inquired if he was thinking about suicide, he didn’t dodge the question. Instead, he told me he’d retrieved his family’s heirloom gun. It was “whispering promises” of escape from his suffering.
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David’s story is more than just dodging a bullet — it is a powerful testament to the critical importance of suicide prevention strategies that focus on encouraging temporarily limiting firearm access — whether through secure storage at home or transfer away from home.
Fresh approaches are desperately needed, since U.S. suicide rates have been steadily rising for two decades. To reverse this trend, we must address access to firearms, which account for 55% of all U.S. suicide deaths.
Studies show that for many individuals, the easy availability of highly lethal means is often a critical determinant in whether they survive a suicidal crisis.
This understanding rests on robust evidence:
• Most individuals who become suicidal do not remain chronically suicidal, even among those with strong intent in the moment.
• Many suicide attempts occur when an individual becomes rapidly overwhelmed rather than through meticulous planning.
• For people who decide to end their life during a crisis, the availability of highly lethal means increases the likelihood of death.
• And limiting access to highly lethal means can reduce the risk of suicide.
These findings have prompted the development of interventions designed to create time and space between an individual’s suicidal impulse and access to firearms, allowing acute urges to subside. Bridging existing sociopolitical boundaries, health providers now counsel at-risk individuals about secure storage practices, and the firearm industry runs national education family-oriented campaigns on the same topic.
Historically, securely locking or temporarily transferring one’s guns was perceived by owners as a hindrance to quick access for home defense. To effectively change storage norms, trusted voices were needed to deliver the message that two seemingly differing principles — protecting 2nd Amendment rights and protecting lives — can both be true simultaneously.
Such messengers have emerged, and nowhere more prominently in the last two years than through “Gun Storage Check Week.” These campaigns, sponsored by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearm industry’s trade association, run during National Safety Month and National Suicide Prevention Month. In conjunction, firearm and safe manufacturers, target shooting and hunting influencers, law enforcement and veterans service organizations disseminate aligned social media communication urging gun owners to “Check Your Firearm Storage/Make Sure It’s Secure.”
As the stark reality that unsecured firearms can be lethal during someone’s darkest moments becomes more widely acknowledged, family and friends will be more likely to speak up and intervene, as I did, and individuals will be more apt to seriously reevaluate how all their firearms are stored.
Following our conversation, David admitted himself to a psychiatric inpatient program and steadily regained his sense of purpose and connection. He frequently expresses deep gratitude for my intervention.
Sometimes suicide prevention simply requires a friend or family member willing to inquire, listen and act. These interactions are like asking someone who’s had too much to drink to hand over their keys until they’ve sobered up. As these conversations become integrated into the fabric of the gun-owning community, storage norms will shift, with the hope for a future in which suicides are significantly reduced.
Russell Lemle is a senior policy analyst for the Veterans Healthcare Policy Institute.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7.
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