Secure Storage Saved My Life
September is Suicide Awareness Month, and I’m sharing my story so everyone knows exactly how strong gun laws save lives.
Content warning: This post contains a description of suicide.
If you’re struggling, remember that you are not alone. You can access help through the confidential Suicide & Crisis Lifeline website at 988lifeline.org, or you can call or text 988 seven days a week, 24 hours a day, to speak with someone and get help.
I think it’s fair to say that nearly every person in this country has a story related to suicide. It impacts so many families, so many communities—killing tens of thousands of Americans every year.
But what often goes unsaid is how closely this crisis is tied to access to guns. Firearms are incredibly lethal, and while they’re used in only a small fraction of suicide attempts, they’re responsible for a majority of suicide deaths in the US.
I come from a family of responsible gun owners going back multiple generations. Many times in our family’s history, those guns were often a lifeline to feeding the family when times were hard. My two brothers and I are very familiar with guns—we were active in 4-H and various Boy Scouts, Venture Crew, and Girl Scouts groups throughout our teen years, and learned how to handle rifles as part of those programs.
I’m a gun owner today, as well as a longtime gun violence prevention advocate—most recently as a member of the Virginia chapter of GIFFORDS Gun Owners for Safety. I’m also a survivor of gun violence in many ways.
I’m alive today because my dad securely stored his firearms in our house.
In my early middle school years, I started fighting my battle with depression. I was bullied relentlessly for a multitude of juvenile reasons, and suicide was never an act or idea that scared me. The only thing that stopped me from acting was that I couldn’t get my hands on my dad’s guns. My father kept three large gun cabinets in the master bedroom, filled with family heirlooms and newer acquisitions. And they were always securely locked.
I had devised plans to kill myself using other methods, with backup plans on top of backup plans. It felt like I was designing a Rube Goldberg machine—an unnecessarily complicated approach to what should be a straightforward task. But I couldn’t be sure any of these other methods would work. And I knew enough to know I didn’t want it not to work.
My life was saved by my father and his secure storage of guns, and I’m grateful every day for his steadfast commitment to keeping our family safe.
Unfortunately, my friend’s story doesn’t have a similar ending.
Sam was one of the most outgoing, energetic, intelligent people I’d ever met. I went to school with him starting in sixth grade, where he took advanced classes, played trumpet in band, and was in line to be co-captain of the academic team with me. He grew up a huge Virginia Tech Hokies fan and worked hard in school to achieve his goal of being a Hokie one day.
But on April 16, 2006, during our sophomore year of high school, that dream ended. Maybe others saw signs that his friends didn’t, but it didn’t matter in the end. That night, Sam went to the house of one of our friends on the academic team while they weren’t home. He knew exactly where to go to get an unsecured gun, and he shot himself in their garage. Our friend’s family discovered him later that night.
Many people say that grief lessens with time. But that hasn’t been my experience. Exactly one year after his death, a student with a lot of anger and a history of mental health issues killed 32 people at Virginia Tech. And as Virginia remembers and grieves this horrific mass shooting every year, those of us who remember Sam hold space for both in our hearts.
STAND UP FOR SAFETY
Americans are not as divided as it may seem. Join Giffords Gun Owners for Safety to stand in support of responsible gun ownership. We’ll share ways to connect with fellow gun owners and support our fight for a safer America.
There’s a common thread through both of these stories—that secure gun storage laws save lives.
I’m here to share my story because of my father’s commitment to firearm safety. Sam isn’t, because he had access to an unsecured gun.
We know that states with commonsense gun laws see fewer gun deaths and less gun violence than those with weaker laws. And when it comes to prioritizing suicide prevention, some of the most popular policies—like secure storage laws, extreme risk protection orders, and waiting periods—can have the biggest impact on saving lives.
To be clear, these policies are not controversial. I’m a proud gun owner, and I stand by each and every one of these solutions as proven methods to reduce gun violence. Those who think that these measures are overstepping our Second Amendment rights—rights I care very deeply about—are letting “gun culture” speak, instead of the facts. Your neighbors and friends who think this way might have been raised and told their whole lives that any gun safety measure is trying to take your guns away from you—and that’s just not true.
There are many ways to help our communities avoid becoming yet another chapter in the book on gun violence in America. And the majority of Americans, as well as a majority of gun owners, support them. Because, at a basic, fundamental level, we all want to see fewer people shot.
My life was saved by responsible gun ownership.
Sam’s life, and countless more, were taken from us too soon because of just how easy it is for anyone to acquire a gun. But this country’s gun suicide problem is one we know how to fix. We just need courageous gun owners to ask their elected officials to support more funding to implement gun violence prevention solutions. We can’t sit back and watch as more of our kids, friends, and families are devastated by gun violence.
TAKE ACTION
The gun safety movement is on the march: Americans from different background are united in standing up for safer schools and communities. Join us to make your voice heard and power our next wave of victories.
GET INVOLVED
