Nice presentation-- and if you wanted to hear a more detailed, hour-long take on that, you'd only have to cue up some of the recent CEU trainings for MFTs and Social Workers in California as part of the new, mandated anti-suicide training requirements. (I won't identify the training center here, but they're one of the big three or four in Southern California.) It was a very pleasant surprise.

I did hit the "text" link, and read Jerry's (MA in Clinical Psych, firearms instructor) comment r.e. guns being lousy ways of committing suicide. That intervention is often part of training as well, though how and when to use it requires some finesse for sure. I've used a variation of it a few times, and if there's a way to do that nearly, I haven't discovered it! Sometimes, where this leads is to an uncomfortable existential given: There's no easy way out, every 'means' of taking one's own life is painful and fraught with perils that are worse than death itself. We're all in it together, we have to look out for each other, and be respectful and kind-- even to people we dislike or disagree with. (Assuming they are not crawling through our bedroom window with a knife in their teeth, of course!)

Since there is an influx of new gun owners, I feel like there is a particular need for readily available, culturally sensitive, politically neutral safety information, and safe storage options-- particularly for populations that may have been overlooked or forgotten. (The safe storage issue is particularly challenging from a legal perspective.)

I also think it's important not to shame people who have had accidents at the range or in the field. These should be taken seriously, and may be the cause of some very serious soul searching, but they can be opportunities for lifesaving interventions. The guy who had an accident yesterday may save someone else from having one tomorrow.

Finally, it may be true that someone who has a garden-variety mental health issue may need to take a few extra precautions when handling firearms, just as they might practicing contact sports, driving, etc. All the more reason that if they wind up in a clinician's office, they aren't treated like a freak or an extremist.