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At the national, state and local level, firearms are the most frequently used lethal means in suicide deaths. Lethal means refers to any means or method an individual can use to inflict harm upon themselves to attempt suicide. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), firearms accounted for more than 50% of all suicide deaths in 2021.
Methods and devices that help to create space or barriers between at-risk people and lethal means is referred to as means safety. Common means safety devices for firearms include gun cables, lock boxes and safes. Research has shown that means safety strategies can help save the life of people experiencing suicidal thoughts.
To learn more about means safety, visit the Striving for Safety website.
Supporting the traditional “10 Commandments of Firearm Safety”, this brochure offers one more piece of advice: consider additional safety precautions when someone in the home is experiencing a mental health crisis or thoughts of suicide. Temporarily storing firearms outside of the home may save a life. Local law enforcement, shooting clubs or gun shops might be able to store them until the situation improves.
Law enforcement, CCW instructors and firearm vendors lent their expertise to “help keep a right from becoming a wrong.” Find “The 11 Commandments of Firearm Safety” brochure here.
For more information, or to request brochures, please call 530-229-8426.
Striving for Safety offers information and resources about means safety. Means safety is used to increase the time and space between someone’s thoughts of suicide and access to means to end their life.
Visit the Striving for Safety website to find additional firearm safety resources. You can also find information on how to temporarily store firearms off-site or outside the home.
If you would like to help support the safety of your customers and staff, contact YouMatterShasta@co.shasta.ca.us for resources and tips.
For additional firearm safety resources and information on how to temporarily store firearms off-site or outside the home, visit the Striving for Safety Firearm Safety page.
Sponsored by Shasta County Health and Human Services Agency in conjunction with our many community partners and advisory boards. Funding provided through the Mental Health Services Act.
