75°F
weather icon Cloudy
Boulder City, NV
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.

MOST READ
THE LATEST
bcr default image
The genie ain’t goin’ back in
By Bill Evans Boulder City Review

My wife and I have been watching a show on Apple TV+ called “The Studio.” It’s pretty often dryly funny series, starring Seth Rogen and some other great folks including Catherine O’Hara, about a recently-promoted head of a big movie studio with Rogen as the new guy and O’Hara as his recently-deposed boss.

bcr default image
Gathering is golden
By Rod Woodbury

Boulder City is exceptionally adept at staging major annual events and festivals for visitors to enjoy. Art in the Park, Spring Jam, Best Dam Barbecue, the Fourth of July Damboree Celebration, Wurst Festival, Santa’s Electric Light Parade, and Bootleg Canyon mountain bike events are just a few examples. Of course, many Boulder City residents enjoy those, too.

bcr default image
Pack safety into sun and fun plans
By Julie Calloway Parks and Recreation Director

Summer is almost here. As the temperatures rise, many of us will be looking for opportunities to cool down.

bcr default image
May may be my favorite month
By Mayor Joe Hardy

Boulder City is the place to be this time of the year, with so many fantastic events and festivals.

bcr default image
Castile soap, the superstar multi-tasker
By Norma Vally

Soap isn’t typically something we give much thought to, but when Castile soap bubbled up in my world three times in one week, for completely different reasons, I took it as a sign. So, in scrubbing up on my soap knowledge it became clear—Castile soap is, well, soaprier.

bcr default image
A graduation gift to remember
By Ron Eland Editor

Over the last couple of weeks, I twice drove over the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Bridge, aka the Hoover Dam bypass.

bcr default image
Democracy dies in … Oh, shut up
By Bill Evans Boulder City Review

OK, so, fair warning. I may be a little “spicier” than normal. It’s been a challenging couple of weeks and I’m in a worse mood than usual.

bcr default image
Real ID will help combat terrorism
By Chuck N. Baker

Most veterans in Nevada are aware that when they obtain a driver’s license or renew their old one, they can ask the DMV to add the word “veteran” on the license. While that won’t give them a get-out-of-jail-free card, it might evoke some sympathy from an officer if a veteran is pulled over for a minor infraction. (No guarantee, but it has happened to me.)