Special to TGM
The National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industry trade association, has announced it will launch Gun Storage Check Week June 1-7, a national campaign to remind gun owners to review their firearm storage practices and consider how they can do their part to prevent unwanted access.
The campaign’s motto is “Make Sure It’s Secure.”
We know that millions of gun owners store their firearms responsibly, but at the same time we can do more to help prevent firearm-related accidents, suicides, and thefts.
That’s why Gun Storage Check Week makes this simple ask of firearm owners and their families—Take a moment and check to make sure your firearms are securely stored when not in use. By denying unwanted access to firearms, accidents, and suicides—and the emotional trauma they cause—can be prevented. Let’s face it, no one wants their firearm to be connected to such a sad incident.
Gun Storage Check Week will take place twice yearly—
- June 1-7 during National Safety Month, and
- September 1-7 during National Suicide Prevention Month
Industry companies, grassroots organizations and individuals are encouraged to mark Gun Storage Check Week on their calendars and to help promote ‘Make Sure It’s Secure’ by using the promotional toolkit at GunStorageCheck.org. Help remind your community that firearms placed on closet shelves, refrigerators, and bedside tables, or thought to be “hidden” or “out of reach,” are not safely stored and might be within the grasp of an unsupervised child or person in crisis. Help remind gun owners they have many options to choose from to store their firearms securely when not in use.
We want gun owners, particularly new owners, to know that a secure storage device exists for just about every need. If readiness for personal and home protection is a priority, fast-opening lock boxes are a good option for security and come in models that use keys, combination pads, or biometric technology. Temporarily storing a firearm in a vehicle? Remember, your vehicle is not a gun safe, but there are devices that can be affixed by a cable to a car seat or placed in consoles or trunks to keep guns secure and out of sight. If you’re an avid shooter, hunter, or a collector and own many guns, a full-size gun safe or gun cabinet provides protection, including against fire. More electronic and app-based security devices are coming to the market as well.
Household changes require a ‘check’
Gun safety is part of overall home safety, and Gun Storage Check Week encourages that we all review our storage practices on a regular basis to keep loved ones safe. This “check” is especially important when changes occur in your household—for example, a child gets older and is now able to find “hidden” things you thought were concealed, or you now live with someone who does not know how to safely handle or operate a firearm. We need to prevent access by these and other individuals who shouldn’t be handling guns. NSSF has many resources to help you decide on the storage device that works for you at GunStorageCheck.org.
Secure Storage and Suicide Prevention
More than half of all suicide deaths yearly involve a firearm, and that number rises to more than 72 percent for veteran suicides. When individuals are struggling with their mental health or are in crisis, research shows that they rely on their spouse or partner, mother, siblings, and friends for support. By better understanding why people take their own lives, knowing how to have a “brave conversation” to help someone who’s struggling and by practicing secure storage, we can better equip ourselves if the time comes to save a life.
Respecting the right to own firearms and taking steps to prevent suicide by firearm—such as deterring access during a difficult period in life —are not incompatible. When a person with thoughts of suicide is prevented from accessing a firearm or other lethal means, a vital pause takes place, allowing time for the period of acute risk to pass or for intervention to take place. Studies show that once deterred, individuals tend not to seek a substitute method of suicide.
Win a Lock Box
A fun part of Gun Storage Check Week is the opportunity to win one of 25 free lock boxes generously donated by ShotLock. Anyone can enter at GunStorageCheck.org, and entrants can receive additional chances to win when they watch a safety video covering the rules of gun safety and storage options. Please consider watching the video with family members.
Gun Storage Check Week will raise awareness twice a year, but it’s important to know that NSSF has many programs that work year-round to keep firearms away from those who should not have access to or possess them. These include Project ChildSafe, Don’t Lie for the Other Guy, our suicide prevention initiative “Have a Brave Conversation,” FixNics, and Operation Secure Storage, collectively known as Real Solutions.
Promotional Resources
Remind gun owners and their families to take a moment to assess their firearm security during Gun Storage Check Week. Help promote Gun Storage Check Week in your community, online, and in the media by using resources available at GunStorageCheck.org.
