How Gun Shops Became the New Face of Suicide Prevention
After leaving the Navy, Ronell Day struggled. His wide smile disappeared. He fought with his new wife.
He cut off contact with his parents after confronting them about childhood abuse. He often thought of suicide. Day decided to take action after talking to a friend about a new initiative in Louisiana called the Armory Project that encourages veterans in crisis to store their firearms outside the home.
He turned over his two handguns and two rifles for safekeeping at a gun shop outside of New Orleans. “I wasn’t in a stable place," Day said. “I got my firearms out of the house." Gun shops are emerging as an avenue for suicide prevention by holding firearms for owners who are going through difficult times.
The new approach comes as suicides reach record levels in the U.S. There were approximately 27,000 gun suicides in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Groups in Colorado and Washington state have recruited and publicized gun dealers willing to hold on to guns in recent years.
States like Louisiana and Montana have tweaked their laws over the past two years so that gun shops and individuals don’t face liability for holding other people’s guns. A nonprofit called Hold My Guns has been promoting the idea at the leading trade show for the gun industry. “A lot of gun owners are afraid to speak up if there’s a mental health crisis in the home," said Sarah Joy Albrecht, a shooting range safety officer from Pennsylvania who founded Hold My Guns.
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