2A Is “Woke”: The Case for Voluntary, Gun-Owner-Led Suicide Prevention

The title of this page borrows a word that has become a political label and returns it to its older meaning: awake and aware of a problem. The problem is suicide. CDC data show that suicides account for more than half of all firearm deaths in the United States each year, which makes suicide prevention a gun-owner issue before it is anyone else’s. The argument presented here is that the most promising responses are voluntary, built and run by gun owners themselves, and do not depend on new laws.

The reasoning is practical. Many gun owners say they would hesitate to tell a doctor, counselor or friend about a crisis if doing so could lead to a red flag order, a lost permit or seized property. Measures that carry that risk may push the people most at risk away from help. Voluntary measures aim for the opposite: make it normal to talk about mental health, make temporary storage easy and private, and make safe storage free. Supporters of extreme risk protection orders see it differently; they argue that a court process is needed when a person in crisis will not seek help, and research reviews such as RAND’s find supportive evidence that child-access prevention laws reduce firearm suicides among young people. Both views share the goal of fewer deaths; the disagreement is over whether compulsion helps or hurts.

Examples of Voluntary Measures

• Gun Shop Project: started in New Hampshire in 2009 through the NH Firearm Safety Coalition, which includes firearm retailers and rights advocates; gun shops and ranges share suicide-prevention materials and guidance with customers. It has spread to other states.
• Hold My Guns: a nonprofit founded in 2020 that connects gun owners with partner FFLs for private, voluntary temporary storage; firearms are returned after a background check.
• Free locks: NSSF’s Project ChildSafe distributes free cable locks, often through local law enforcement.
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: the national three-digit crisis line, launched July 16, 2022.

What Gun Owners Can Do

• Talk openly about mental health at the range, in clubs and in classes; reducing stigma is a safety measure.
• Know a local FFL or trusted friend who can hold firearms temporarily, and check state transfer laws first.
• Keep firearms locked when not in use, especially with visitors or family members in crisis.
• Learn the warning signs and how to ask a direct, caring question.
• Remember the crisis line: call or text 988.

Related: Red Flag Laws, Firearm Deaths, 2A Doctors. Training: After Action.net.

Sources

• Harvard Means Matter: Gun Shop Project
• Guns.com: Hold My Guns helps gun owners in crisis
• RAND: Gun Policy in America
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
• Project ChildSafe (NSSF)

Study Suggests Gun Control FAILS, Voluntary Measures Are WOKE?

voluntary non-regulatory measures
– voluntary measures are woke, and will not fail based on the evidence so far

Destigmatize Mental Health

Provide Access to Council
– Not fear of loosing rights / property
– provide free locks
– don’t Red Flag (so they don’t want to talk to you)

Non Government way to secure guns for temp off-site

Substantive method
– good policy
-voluntary access
– understanding at a deeper level