Firearms
Lethal Means Safety
Introduction
Increasing the time and distance between a person with thoughts of suicide and their access to lethal means can reduce their suicide risk and potentially save their life. Most Veterans who die by suicide die by firearm. Firearm suicide death made up 72.2% of the overall Veteran suicides in 2021. Veteran suicide rates will drop if we work together to focus on the secure storage of firearms as a method for reducing Veteran suicide.
What are lethal means?
Lethal means are any materials used for the purposes of attempting suicide.
What is Lethal Means Safety (LMS)?
Efforts that involve making a suicide attempt method less available.
What Action Has VA Taken?
VA respects the important role firearms play in many Veterans' lives and is dedicated to educating Veterans, their families, and communities about how secure storage can prevent suicide. Means matter-how a person attempts suicide impacts how fatal the attempt will be (for example, as many as 9 in 10 suicide attempts that involve firearms are lethal). This is why an emphasis on firearms comes to the forefront of suicide prevention and lethal means conversations.
Secure Storage
Promoting secure storage of firearms has been found to reduce suicide. VA launched several outreach efforts and websites that are designed to provide education and direct resources to Veterans on lethal means safety. At the end of September 2023, visitors to the websites completed over 2.8 billion video views, likes, and shares and 13.3 million web actions like self-check quizzes and using support tools.
Expanding Secure Storage and Training
Focusing on expanding training and gun lock distribution to community partners, VA has provided training to over 4000 community healthcare providers in Lethal Means Safety and distributed over 730,000-gun locks outside VA for wide distribution to Veterans and their families.
What's Next?
Project Life Force (PLF)
This project delivers an intervention that includes safety planning, lethal means counseling, and other emotional regulation and interpersonal skill building from VA providers to Veterans at risk for suicide, including those in rural settings.
Veteran Firearm Suicide and VHA Service Patterns
VHA Service Use Proximal to Firearm Suicide Among U.S. Veterans will describe the frequency and settings of VHA health care service use prior to Veterans' deaths by firearm suicide among all Veterans who used VHA services and develop dissemination tools to clinical care settings to inform VHA setting specific LMS counseling initiatives.
FFAST Project: Enhancing Firearm Safety for Veterans
The Improving Safe Firearm Storage in Veterans through Involving a Concerned Significant Other (FFAST) Project will develop and test a lethal means intervention with concerned supporters, providing resources and education on how to discuss lethal means safety with their Veteran loved ones.
Digital LMS Messaging for Younger Veterans
The Leveraging Digital Platforms for Communicating Lethal Means Safety (LMS) Messages to Younger Veterans project seeks to address gaps in effective messaging and evidence-based recommendations to younger Veterans via digital platforms. The project strives to evaluate the use of LMS messaging and the impact of digital platforms to inform future development and deployment.
Resources
What You Can Do
Normalize the Discussion
It's OK to ask if someone is having thoughts about suicide. And it is OK to ask about how they are storing their firearms too. This brochure provides a guide on how to have these discussions with loved ones.
Community Outreach
Work within your local communities to promote secure firearm storage, utilizing this community toolkit and messaging to help Veterans, families, and communities learn about putting "time and space" between a Veteran in crisis and a firearm.
Free Gun Locks
Obtain a free cable gun lock from your local VA and ensure your loved ones have access to one. Placing objects that have personal meaning, such as pictures of loved ones or personal notes, by your locked gun or safe, along with a reminder of Veterans Crisis Line's number (Dial 988 then Press 1) can serve as a reminder of hope during a time of crisis.
Don't Wait. Reach Out.
Don't Wait. Reach Out is a national outreach and resource campaign designed specifically for Veterans, family members and their support networks to connect to suicide prevention and other resources. Life has its challenges and you don't have to solve them alone. Find support and resources designed specifically for you, including those for financial, career, educational and more.
Practice Secure Firearm and Medication Storage
The Keep It Secure (Lethal Means Safety) campaign promotes awareness about the simple steps Veterans and their support networks can take to increase safety – including firearm storage, secure medication storage, supports for Veterans and Families and connections to resources. Increasing time and distance between a person in suicidal crisis and their access to lethal means saves lives.
Build Upon Your Knowledge
Connect with PsychArmor, a website with education and trainings specifically geared to military cultural awareness and other topics such as lethal means safety. This site is for members of the military-connected community and anyone who wants to engage with the military and Veteran community more effectively.
