Identifying Effective Approaches to Counseling on Firearm Safety

Lethal means counseling is broadly defined as clinician-initiated discussions that encourage an individual at risk for suicide to safely store his or her firearms. Examples in this domain include applying a gun lock, separating the gun from its ammunition, dismantling the firearm and keeping its components locked and/or separated, or safely transferring the firearm to a trusted loved one, friend, or police station until risk abates (Bryan, Stone, \& Rudd, 2011; Jin, Khazem, \& Anestis, 2016). Further, given that recent purchasers of firearms are at markedly increased risk of death by suicide (Wintemute, Parham, Beaumont, Wright, \& Drake, 1999), anticipatory counseling on firearm safety should also be considered for at-risk individuals who do not report currently owning or having access to a firearm, but who report prior firearm ownership/access or intentions of obtaining a firearm in the future (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 2017).