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Opinion

New gun proposal may reduce suicides

By Chuck N. Baker
November 21, 2024 - 5:02 pm
 

Reducing veteran suicide remains a top priority for Congress, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the veteran community.

I am a strong proponent of doing whatever is necessary to help prevent veterans (and others) from taking their lives. Last year I wrote and recorded a song that I sent to the VA asking them to consider using it for commercials. I had zero response. (Go to “988” on YouTube to hear the song and view a some videos.)

Several veterans’ organizations have been giving out free gun locks at various events, and the gratis offer has been going on for quite some time. I am guessing that many hundreds (thousands?) of such locks have been handed out, and they probably do help in some cases. Yet veteran suicides continue to rise.

Unfortunately, firearms are by far the most prevalent method of veteran suicides, used 72% of the time, a rate that is much higher than non-veteran firearm suicide. One in three veteran firearm owners store at least one firearm unlocked and loaded. This unsafe storage practice is more frequent among veteran firearm owners who seek VA care (38%) than among other veterans who own firearms (31.9%).

Now, the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) is calling on its members and supporters to contact their representatives and urge them to co-sponsor and support H.R. 9819, the Saving Our Veterans Lives Act.

The Saving Our Veterans Lives Act would direct the VA to provide eligible veterans with secure storage options for their firearms. The bill also calls for a public education campaign on the availability of these items and on how to use them as a suicide prevention strategy while ensuring the program has no collection of personally identifiable information for tracking firearm ownership, mandatory firearm storage or discouraging lawful firearm ownership.

Experts agree that safe gun storage helps create time and space for a veteran in crisis, and can interrupt the impulse of suicidal thoughts and ideation — giving the person an opportunity to hesitate, reconsider and seek help.

The Disabled American Veterans, a group I am a life member of, supports H.R. 9819, in accordance to the organization’s Resolution Number 224, that calls for program improvement and enhanced resources for VA mental health programs and suicide prevention efforts. I urge readers to support the act, that hopefully will save more lives.

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