Two Nevada lawmakers are teaming up on a bipartisan bill to prevent suicide with guns.
Assembly Majority Floor Leader Sandra Jauregui and Assemblymember PK O’Neill — a Democrat and Republican — realized that they were trying to do the same thing. They wanted to find ways to prevent people from ending their lives with the use of a firearm.
“If we just prevent one suicide, it’s worth every minute we have done on this,” O’Neill said.
Under the proposed legislation, if someone is struggling with a mental health challenge, they could voluntarily surrender their gun for at least 21 days to a licensed firearm dealer.
Nearly one in six gun deaths are suicides, according to the Pew Research Center.
“When firearms are used, people most likely think of mass shootings, but firearms are actually the leading cause of death for children, and the leading cause for suicide as well amongst our veterans,” Jauregui said.
Firearms account for 73% of suicides among veterans, according to the US Department of Veterans Affairs.
O’Neill said it can also help if someone else in the home is having a mental health crisis.
“My family member may be in a bad spot. I have firearms in the house, and I can go surrender them just to protect [them] while I work with my spouse, roommates, etc., through the situation,” O’Neill said.
O’Neill also has a second bill that could protect federal firearms licensees (FFLs) from civil liability after returning someone's gun to them. The lawmakers plan on combining the two bills.
“This isn't a mandate, this is voluntary,” Jauregui said. “We want to encourage FFLs to participate, and so we want to make sure that we’re protecting them too for their participation.”
Both lawmakers agree this isn’t a red or blue issue. It’s deeply personal to them, especially O’Neill, who’s retired from law enforcement.
“It really affects me. I handled so many suicides, but I’ve had personal friends commit suicide, people that I worked with commit suicide, and they were by firearms,” O’Neill said.
They hope it can further break down the stigma of asking for help.
“By taking that overt act, they also are reaching out and will go forward with that to talk to counselors, to their friends, to those that they can trust about the issue,” O’Neill said.
Jauregui said conversations about mental health are changing.
“This might have been a taboo conversation a decade ago, but people are receptive to it now, people understand,” Jauregui said.
A permanent record will not be created if someone chooses to surrender their gun.
If you or someone you know needs help, call or text the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.
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