Congress Backs September 9, 2025, for National Firearm Suicide Prevention Day to Push Safe Gun Storage

This resolution is Congress officially throwing its weight behind the designation of September 9, 2025, as “National Firearm Suicide Prevention Day.” The goal isn't to create new law or regulation, but to use the national spotlight to tackle a serious public health crisis: firearm suicide. It’s essentially a massive public service announcement, backed by the House, aiming to raise awareness about the high rate of deaths by firearm suicide and promote secure gun storage as a key preventative measure.

The Crisis on the Table

Before getting to the solution, the resolution lays out the grim facts, making it clear why this awareness day is needed. Every day, 74 people in the U.S. die by firearm suicide, and over the last decade, this rate has climbed by 14 percent. The core issue, as the text highlights, is lethality: roughly 90 percent of suicide attempts involving a gun end in death. For anyone struggling, having a gun readily accessible triples their risk of death. This isn’t just a statistic; it’s a reality check for millions of households, emphasizing that access to a firearm during a crisis moment is often the difference between life and death.

Why Safe Storage Is the Solution

The resolution zeroes in on safe storage as the most practical, immediate intervention. For busy people, this is the part that hits home: the text notes that 4.6 million children live in homes where guns are unlocked or unsupervised, and in 75 percent of youth firearm suicides, the gun was stored loaded and unlocked. The implication is direct—secure storage, like using a lockbox or keeping the firearm disassembled, is a concrete action that can save lives. The resolution cites studies suggesting that if only 20 percent more households adopted safe storage, it could prevent nearly a third of annual youth deaths from both suicide and accidental shootings. This isn’t about taking away rights; it’s about making a simple, effective safety choice.

The Encouragement for Professionals

Beyond just promoting the awareness day, the resolution encourages public health and medical professionals to step up. This means your doctor, therapist, or even a public health official might start having conversations with you about gun ownership, safety, and suicide prevention. For patients, this could mean a brief but necessary discussion about safe storage protocols during a routine check-up, especially if they are identified as being in a high-risk group. The resolution specifically notes that veterans (71 percent of whom use a firearm in suicide) and older white men have the highest rates of gun suicide, making these conversations particularly vital for those communities. This provision aims to normalize the discussion of firearm safety as a standard component of preventative health care, much like discussing smoking or diet.