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Robin Hatch hands out gun socks with a suicide prevention hotline printed on them. (KUER photo by Erik Neumann) |
Firearms account for just over half of all suicide deaths, but promoting suicide prevention efforts can be difficult in rural areas, where guns are part of the local culture.
Suicides by gun are much higher in rural areas, mostly because of easier access. It's a particular problem in Utah, which has one of the highest suicide rates in the nation, and especially in rural northeastern Utah, which has a suicide rate 58% higher than the rest of the state. Guns are a popular means of carrying out suicides in Utah: 85% of the state's firearm deaths are suicides, and suicide attempts with guns are far more likely to be successful, Erik Neumann reports for NPR.
Because guns are so popular in Utah, efforts to prevent suicide have mostly focused on increasing gun safety with devices such as free gun locks, expanding mental health and crisis response programs in rural areas, and promoting awareness among locals about when and how to intervene if they see someone at risk of suicide, Neumann reports.
Dee Cairoli, for example, is a pastor who teaches concealed-carry classes on the side. "When hosting classes, Cairoli explains how gun owners can intervene if another gun owner shows signs of a mental health crisis," Neumann reports. When Cairoli was 15, his father killed himself with a gun, but Cairoli says he never hated or blamed the gun; he chooses to focus on the fact that his father had access to a gun in a "desperate moment", and wants other gun owners to understand the importance of keeping an eye on friends.
Republican state representative Steve Eliason, who represents a suburban area near Salt Lake City, has sponsored several bills focused on firearm safety, suicide prevention, and mental health services. Like Cairoli, Eliason has been touched by gun tragedy: three of his young male relatives have died from firearm suicides. He says he has been careful to focus on safety and not restricting gun rights, since guns are so popular in the state, Neumann reports.
Two counselors from Northeastern Counseling Center, in the rural northeastern community of Roosevelt, have taken a surprising tack: they set up a table at a local gun and knife show to give out safety goodies meant to slow someone considering suicide in a moment of crisis: cable locks and gun socks with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline phone number printed on them, Neumann reports. As they hand out the swag, they strike up conversations. One of the counselors, Robin Hatch, tells an attendee: "Lethal access to lethal means makes a difference. Suicide attempts by any other means are less lethal."
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