School District Provides Complimentary Handguns in Suicide Prevention Measure
In a bid to combat the high rates of youth suicide, Montana's Missoula County Public Schools (MCPS) has taken a proactive approach by introducing a safety campaign. The focus of this initiative is particularly on suicide prevention and the secure storage of firearms.
The campaign, which ran from September 23 to October 4, saw MCPS distributing free gun locks during school hours. These locks, donated by Cabelas, are designed to delay or prevent access to firearms during suicidal crises. A gun safe, which can only be opened with a specific code, offers an additional layer of protection.
Research indicates that safe firearm storage—keeping guns locked, unloaded, and separate from ammunition—significantly lowers the risk of youth suicide by firearms. This is because adolescents and young adults, unlike many adults, typically cannot unlock secured guns themselves during a crisis. This creates critical time and space between a moment of impulse and action, which can be lifesaving.
A 2025 study in *JAMA Network Open* found that safe gun storage is strongly associated with reduced adolescent firearm suicide risk, while adult suicide risk is less affected as adults may access unlocked firearms despite precautions. This underscores the specific protective role of gun locks and safes for youth.
Public health authorities, such as the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, recommend storing firearms unloaded, locked up, and separated from ammunition as the "gold standard" for firearm safety, particularly to protect children and teens. They also promote voluntary out-of-home storage during times of increased suicide risk.
Community-level programs distributing free gun locks and promoting safe storage have shown success in increasing the use of these safety measures. For example, initiatives like those in Howard County demonstrate how making gun locks widely available and educating families can reduce firearm deaths, including suicides among youth and children.
Clinical settings incorporating lethal means counseling—where clinicians assess suicide risk and encourage safer firearm storage—have led to meaningful changes in gun storage practices, thereby reducing suicide risk.
While direct Montana-specific data is limited, these findings apply broadly across the United States, including rural states with high firearm ownership like Montana. Montana has a high youth suicide rate, and improving safe firearm storage is a key preventive strategy commonly recommended.
In 2017, the suicide rate for Montana youth was 23 per 10,000, with the fatality rate of suicide by firearm being 90%. More emails to parents and increased publicity could help bring attention to this issue, ensuring that more households with youth are aware of and can benefit from these vital safety measures.
In conclusion, encouraging and enabling the use of gun locks and safes among households with youth is a vital, evidence-based approach to reducing firearm suicide rates in Montana and similar settings. The MCPS safety campaign, while commendable, has not received enough public attention or promotion, which is concerning given its importance. The program also aims at preventing school shootings, another critical issue that requires public awareness and support.
The MCPS safety campaign, focusing on suicide prevention and safe firearm storage, distributed free gun locks to reduce youth suicide risk, as research suggests that safe storage significantly lowers this risk. Public health authorities recommend that gun locks and safes should be the "gold standard" for firearm safety, especially to protect children and teens, with studies showing that community-level programs promoting safe storage can reduce firearm deaths,including suicides among youth.
