Openness to firearm storage safety as a suicide prevention tool among those exposed to suicide: The role of perceived closeness to the suicide decedent

Abstract

Background: Exposure to suicide and closeness to a suicide decedent may be relevant to means safety, especially in firearm owners. This study examines how such factors are associated with firearm owners' current firearm storage methods and openness to changing storage methods.

Method: 300 firearm owners completed a survey on Amazon's Mechanical Turk program; 176 participants reported being exposed to suicide. Perceived closeness was rated as Not at all close, Close, or Extremely Close.

Results: Those exposed to suicide were more open to secure storage and temporarily storing the firearm with a trusted individual to prevent someone else's suicide. Those close to the suicide decedent were more likely to use secure storage practices, more open to using secure storage methods to prevent their own and someone else's suicide, and had a higher degree of storage methods in place compared to those not close to the decedent.

Limitations: The sample may not be representative of all American firearm owners exposed to suicide.

Conclusions: Being close to a suicide decedent may influence firearm owners' current storage practices and openness to changing storage methods. Such individuals may better relate to the suicide decedent and realize the significance of using secure storage methods to prevent suicide.

Keywords: Firearm storage; Means safety; Perceived closeness; Suicide exposure.