Gun Shop Project
cALL 800-273-8255 or text "sos" to 741741
Suicide
Prevention: A Role for Firearm Dealers and Range Owners
Half of the gun shops in New Hampshire are disseminating the materials, according to visits to all shops in 2011/2. And the project is now nationwide: The project disseminated materials aimed both at reducing suicides involving recently-purchased firearms as well as existing household firearms. (Materials include a poster, brochure, and tip sheet, below.) Our role in the coalition has been as research partner to study the issue, to survey the gun shop owners before and after the campaign (to solicit input and measure impact– over half of the commercial gun shops in the state were interviewed beforehand, and all were visited afterward), and to develop the materials for the campaign (with the exception of the video, which others took the lead on). The campaign products (disseminated in August 2011) and related press coverage are available at www.nhfsc.org. 48% of commercial firearm retailers in NH are displaying at least one product developed by the coalition. Discussions with gun owners in the
coalition and dealers around the state were invaluable; we
are seeking funding to provide technical assistance to other
suicide prevention groups around the country who express
interest in starting up similar projects. For more
information about this project including links to the poster
and brochure shown below please visit www.nhfsc.org
or contact
us. Suicide
Prevention: A Role for Firearm Dealers and Ranges The project’s overall goal is to share materials, developed by and for firearm retailers and range owners, on ways they can help prevent suicide. Its objectives are to: Develop and share guidelines with gun store/firing range owners about how to avoid selling or renting a firearm to a suicidal customer Encourage gun stores and firing ranges to display and distribute suicide prevention materials tailored to their customers Latest Information We’ve stopped by virtually all of the independent gun shops in the state (67 by our count) to see whether they were displaying materials we had sent them and to hear their advice. Here’s what we learned:
Background In 2009, in the course of less than a week, three people (with no connection to each other) bought a firearm from the same store and killed themselves within hours of the purchase. The Medical Examiner’s office brought this to the attention of their mental health liaison, and a small group of firearm retailers and mental health/public health practitioners met to explore whether there is a role for gun stores in preventing suicide. The group was later adopted by the NH Firearm Safety Coalition. According to information abstracted from the NH medical examiner’s death investigation reports, among the 144 firearm suicides that occurred over a two-year period ending 6/30/09, nearly one in ten were committed with a gun that was purchased or rented within a week of the suicide (usually within hours). The figure is likely an underestimate since two-thirds of the reports made no mention of when the gun was obtained. Materials The Coalition originally developed materials and visited about half the gun shops in NH to get feedback from shop owners on the overall project and the draft materials. Response was very positive. Materials were adapted based on the input received. Packets were mailed out to independent, storefront gun shops in August 2011. Then all the shops were visited to see how many were displaying materials and to get additional feedback. Again, some materials were adapted. Materials were developed to engage gun shops in helping to prevent suicide. Those for the gun shop owners and their employees are designed to help them identify and address a potentially suicidal customer. The products for customers urge them to be alert for signs of suicide among family and friends, to know where to call for help (1-800-273- TALK [8255]) or text SOS to 741741 and to make sure that guns aren’t available to those in a suicidal crisis. Products List Use the links below to print or view copies of our materials. To order a DVD of the video, a copy of the poster, or the business cards, send us an email requesting the product by title.
Next Steps Several organizations are interested in adapting these materials for use in their state. We are actively working with several of them. If you are interested, please contact Elaine Frank to discuss next steps. About The Coalition The New Hampshire Firearm Safety Coalition brings together individuals and organizations with a broad range of views on gun ownership who share a concern with safety and with preventing suicide. The group includes: gun shops and firing ranges, legislators, injury prevention and mental health advocates, researchers and committed volunteers. Since the Coalition first formed in 1994, the group has produced a variety of public education materials initially geared towards young people: a brochure and other printed materials, Firearm Safety Display Kits available for use at health fairs and educational programs, and two videos entitled “Staying Safe Around Guns – What You DON’T Know Can Hurt You” – one geared to middle school students and the other to high school students. Since then, more than 4500 copies of these have been distributed throughout NH, the US and abroad. In 2009, the Coalition took on the Gun Shop Project – a collaborative effort to engage gun shop and firing range owners, their employees and their customers on preventing suicide, the number one type of firearm death in the U.S. NH Firearms Safety Coalition In The News
Source: https://theconnectprogram.org/resources/nh-firearm-safety-coalition/
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