Time and Distance: The Key to Firearm Suicide Prevention

By: Ryan Price
Program Operations team at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP)

Back when I worked in a firearms setting, before I joined the staff team at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, I didn’t realize that suicide prevention, to a great extent, is a matter of time and distance. What that means is that, according to scientific research into suicide prevention, putting time and distance between a person who is thinking of suicide and the method they are thinking of using to end their life can be lifesaving.

When someone dies by suicide, the circumstances are complex. But something that every firearm- owning household can do is to implement a strategy for increasing the time it takes to access a firearm. Why?

Most firearm deaths are suicides. I didn’t know this when I worked for an FFL (Federal Firearms License holder) in a firearms retail setting for several years. Nobody did – because we weren’t talking about it at the time. Things are different now and more firearm owners are aware that over the past 20 years, about 60 percent of all firearm deaths in the U.S were suicides.

Most people who survive a suicide attempt do not go on to die by suicide. About 90 percent of people who survive a suicide attempt ultimately reach the help they need. When a firearm is involved, however, it’s almost always lethal. If someone is thinking about using a firearm to take their life and they don’t have the ability to access it during a time of crisis, they are unlikely to attempt suicide in another way.

Putting time and distance between people and firearms is an important action step for every firearm owner, so here are some considerations:

1. Firearms should be stored securely when not in use. Remember – the more time you can put between a person who might be at risk for suicide and a firearm the better.

2. Three steps to keep your home safe from firearm suicide: Lock, Limit and Temporarily remove.

Lock: When firearms are not in use, they should be locked and unloaded. Ammunition should be locked in a separate location.

Limit: Consider taking steps to limit access to firearms, such as changing safe combinations, changing locks or giving the keys or combination to a locking device to a trusted person.

Temporarily remove firearms from the home if someone is at risk — and trust your gut about that, if someone in your home isn’t acting like themselves. It’s important to be aware of your state’s firearm transfer laws when storing them outside the home. According to a recent Harris Poll, almost every adult in the U.S (96%) would act if someone close to them was thinking about suicide and about 80% of adults in the U.S are eager to learn how to help someone who may be suicidal. So please take action today, by learning more from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention about how you can help someone who may be suicidal: visit afsp.org/firearms.

Ryan Price is the Director of Special Projects on the Program Operations team at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Ryan primarily works on firearms suicide prevention and suicide prevention in corrections systems.