King Introduces Legislation to Provide Safe Firearm Storage for Veterans

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Angus King is introducing legislation to provide firearm storage to American veterans in an effort to reduce suicides among the veteran population. The Lethal Means Safe Storage for Veteran Suicide Prevention Act would create a grant program to provide free firearm lock boxes or gun safes on request to any veteran. The legislation would also require providers from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and the Veterans' Affairs (VA) Community Care Network to complete mental health training on how to have basic conversations with veterans about their safety and access to lethal means, including firearms and medications.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death in veterans under age 45 and, according to the most recent National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report, the vast majority of veteran suicide deaths - 72% in 2021 - involved a firearm. Increasing access to safety training programs and keeping firearms safely stored could be critical in efforts to reduce death by suicide, especially among veterans.

"I often say Maine is one big small town connected by long roads and our amazing people are the heartbeat and pulse of this incredible Maine family," said Senator King. "The Lethal Means Safe Storage for Veteran Suicide Prevention Act would create a grant program making money available to provide safe storage options for firearms. With service-based trauma on the rise, we must provide our veterans with as many resources as possible to keep them safe during their most challenging times. As our veteran community faces some of its greatest hurdles, this bill makes important investments in protecting our country's best asset - its people."

More specifically, this legislation would:

1. Require VHA providers, including Vet Center counselors, to do annual lethal means safety training.
2. Require providers within the VA's Community Care Network to do annual lethal means safety training.
3. Require the VA to work with VSOs to provide information to veterans related to lethal means safety and safe storage options. Specifically, efforts would focus on suicide prevention and help veterans understand why their health care providers might ask about their access to lethal means - including firearms and medications - and highlight the importance of planning ahead to put space and time between thoughts of self-harm and access to lethal means.
4. Create a grant program - modelled after a program implemented in Utah by the Utah Department of Veterans & Military Affairs, Utah Department of Health and Human Service, and the Utah National Guard - to provide free firearm lock boxes to any veteran who wants one.
5. 1. The program would be authorized at $2 million annually for five years, and would provide grants of up to $100,000. Grants would be available to states, VSOs, non-profits, and tribes.
   2. No names or personal information would be collected and veterans seeking lock boxes will not be asked about their gun ownership status.
   3. In order to obtain a lock box, a veteran will only need to present their DD-214 or other approved method of confirming their veteran status.

The legislation is supported by DAV, VFW, American Legion, Brady, Everytown, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, American Psychiatric Association, National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI), NAMI-Maine, and Spurwink.

"Veterans who take their own lives overwhelmingly do so with a firearm. The Lethal Means Safe Storage for Veteran Suicide Prevention Act is a welcome step in the right direction that would mandate annual training for VA and community care network providers on safe gun storage and suicide prevention efforts," said DAV National Legislative Director Joy Ilem. "We know that time and space between a veteran and their firearm can be lifesaving, and we thank Sen. King for his leadership in introducing this bill."

"We commend Senator King for introducing the Lethal Means Safe Storage for Veteran Suicide Prevention Act," said Laurel Stine, J.D., M.A., Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. "Research suggests that one in four Veterans store firearms in an unsafe manner, increasing risk of suicide. By authorizing new federal funding to provide secure firearm storage devices, and requiring lethal means safety training for clinicians, this legislation will meaningfully reduce risk of suicide, protecting Veterans and their families."

"This legislation plays a crucial role in reducing the stigma around mental health and normalizing conversations about it. By addressing these issues, it also helps bridge service gaps - considering that 35% of individuals who died by suicide had seen their primary care provider within a week of their death, and 64% had done so within the month prior," said NAMI Maine Executive Director Jennifer Thompson. "By equipping those most likely to interact with veterans with the necessary tools and understanding, we are addressing a critical need in a way that is both approachable and culturally competent for our veteran community."

"Spurwink is dedicated to supporting our service members, veterans, and their families, and fully supports Lethal Means Safe Storage for Veteran Suicide Prevention Act which would ensure that clinicians serving our active military and veterans will receive essential training in lethal means education," said Spurwink President and CEO Eric Meyer. "Such training would raise competency in delivering care to those at highest levels of risk."

Representing one of the states with the highest rates of veterans per capita, Senator King is a staunch advocate for America's servicemembers and veterans. He has been among the Senate's most prominent voices on the need to address veterans suicide, and has repeatedly pressed for action from top Department of Defense officials on this issue. Most recently, at the request of Senator King, the Department of Defense (DoD) released a new report breaking down suicide rates in the Armed Service by job function. An advocate for amplifying veteran voices, Senator King has also held a field hearing focusing on long-term care in Maine. Additionally, he recently led a bipartisan letter calling for more support for victims of military sexual trauma, as well as a letter urging further investments in traumatic brain injury research, the signature wound of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars that has unfortunately led to a high number of veteran suicides.

A one-pager of the legislation can be found here.

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