Category: Uncategorized

Celebrating Our Partnerships This Year

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As we reflect on 2023, Safer Homes would like to highlight some of our amazing partnerships, from both this year and previous years.

  • Safe & Vault store for their tremendous ongoing support.
  • Alan Gottlieb and the Second Amendment Foundation, without whom Safer Homes wouldn’t have gotten off the ground in the first place.
  • Joe Bartozzi and the National Shooting Sports Foundation, whose leadership on suicide prevention is so consistent and invaluable.
  • Securité Gun Club for hosting us so regularly.
  • Jenny Arnold and Boris Zhang with the Washington State Pharmacy Association for their invaluable support and subject matter expertise.
  • Gala True from the Louisiana VA for her collaboration, encouragement, and work as a fellow traveler whose efforts got Louisiana across the finish line for a retailer liability shield shortly after we did in Washington.
  • Emmy Betz, Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Anschutz, CO, whose work inspires us, and whose commitment to collaborative work is instrumental in the national efforts around lethal means safety.
  • Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro for allowing us to brief the senior leaders of the Naval Service on comprehensive suicide prevention and lethal means safety, which substantially accelerated our work with the armed forces.
  • Jessica Gallus, previously with the Dept. of the Navy and now with the U.S. Space Force, for her nonstop support in reaching military audiences.

Safer Homes Briefs US Special Ops Command, VA Suicide Prevention Conference

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Last month was a whirlwind of presentations and briefings for Brett Bass, Safer Homes Program Director. In addition to several events around Washington state, he participated in the second annual Suicide Prevention Conference  jointly hosted by the US Veterans Administration and the National Shooting Sports Foundation, in Denver, CO, providing expertise on the role of firearms safety in reducing suicides.

Following this, he flew to Tampa, FL, to MacDill Air Force Base, to brief both the US Special Operations Command (SOCOM)  and the US Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT) on a comprehensive approach to suicide prevention. These two organizations comprise members from all branches of the military. While all events were well attended, the SOCCENT presentation was standing-room only.

Brett’s presentation covered three critical points:

  1. Lethal Means Safety – what it is.
  2. How Lethal Means Safety fits into a comprehensive suicide prevention plan (and how this ties into the social-ecological model that informs for our work).
  3. The SPRIRC Report and Brett’s analysis of it, including how it pertains to the Department of Defense’s suicide prevention initiatives.

We’re grateful for these opportunities to share our expertise in lethal means safety with organizations whose leadership understands that a comprehensive public health approacih is essential to reducing suicides. Especially with military and veterans organizations, because we know that veterans are at much higher risk of dying by suicide than civilians, and it’s critical to work on programs and initiatives that help save their lives.

Safer Homes Task Force Quarterly Meeting

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Earlier this month, the Safer Homes Task Force met in person for the first time since COVID! Thank you to WDVA co-chair Codie Garza for hosting the task force in Olympia, WA. We are grateful to everyone who traveled to attend in person – and also to those task force members who joined us remotely. Their expertise and insight is critical to the work of our program.

Safer Homes Presents Lethal Means Safety to US Navy Leadership

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Lethal Means Safety in Suicide Prevention

Brett Bass (Safer Homes, Suicide Aware Program Manager) and Jeff Sung, MD (Safer Homes Faculty Advisor) had the amazing opportunity to present our Safer Homes work and approach to leaders of the U.S. Naval Service at their Resilience offsite on March 17.

We’re honored to share with the Department of the Navy how our programmatic approach to lethal means safety fits within a comprehensive plan for suicide prevention.

Thank you to the Secretary of the Navy, Carlos Del Toro and other senior leaders of the naval services for their commitment to suicide prevention.

Dr Sung meets Secretary of the Navy, Carlos Del Toro.

Firearms Safety Training

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Safer Homes, Suicide Aware has developed a firearms safety webinar to address the training needs of first-time buyers and others who are new to firearms ownership.

View a recording of the July 2020 webinar on YouTube. 

View a recording of the July 2020 webinar on Vimeo.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, historic numbers of people have purchased firearms, with unprecedented numbers of first-time buyers and inexperienced firearms owners.

In response, Safer Homes, Suicide Aware has developed a firearms safety webinar to address the training needs of new firearms owners. This curriculum, developed in partnership with the Safer Homes Task Force and the Second Amendment Foundation, provides a modern, compelling overview of firearms safety inclusive of firearms suicide – the leading type of firearm fatality. The presenters, both Safer Homes staff, hold a variety of professional certifications as firearms instructors and have extensive backgrounds in both the armed forces of the United States and private-sector marksmanship training.

This course is open to all, but is particularly relevant for new or inexperienced firearms owners, those who are returning to firearms ownership after a long absence, or anyone else who wishes to attend a refresher course.

INITATIVE 1639

This course meets all requirements set forth for compliance with Initiative 1639 and a certificate of completion can be provided upon request.

Online Firearms Safety Training

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Coming Soon!

 

In response to COVID-19 and the Stay Home, Save Lives executive order from Gov. Inslee, Safer Homes, Suicide Aware is developing an online firearms safety training course, aimed at first-time gun owners, but also relevant for experienced firearms owners. This course, led by Brett Bass of Safer Homes, Suicide Aware, will meet & exceed the requirements of Initiative 1639, which requires the completion of a training course to purchase certain rifles. More information will be forthcoming soon.

National Night Out In Oak Harbor

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August 6, 2019, 4 – 7 pm

National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live. National Night Out enhances the relationship between neighbors and law enforcement while bringing back a true sense of community.

Representatives from “Safer Homes, Suicide Aware” will be at the event informing guests how to make their home safer and prevent a suicide long before a crisis occurs.

Medication locking devices as well as firearm locking devices will be distributed for free.

“Safer Homes” signifies a home in which lethal means are unavailable to a suicidal individual. “Suicide Aware” signifies the universal need to educate people about suicide prevention and action steps everyone can take today.

Putting a practical barrier between a suicidal person and the means they plan to use to end their life can interrupt their path to suicide.