For NPR News, I'm Aaron Bolton in Helena, Mont. But he says the first step to saving a life is being willing to reach out to a loved one in crisis to let them know you care and want to keep them safe. And a lot of states are pretty silent on this whole issue of temporary storage of firearms.īOLTON: Rivara says it will take time to address these gaps. And what one state may say may be different than another state may say. He supported the new law but says it only helps families in his state.įRED RIVARA: I think that's part of the problem, is that first of all, these laws are different in each of the 50 states. Fred Rivara is with the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center in Seattle. But a recent change to the law now allows extended family members and friends to hold a gun if suicide is a risk. Before, only immediate family members could hold onto guns. It would make it easier for you to give your gun to your cousin, for example.īOLTON: That's what they did in Washington state. Emmy Betz is a public health researcher in Colorado.ĮMMY BETZ: It's a great idea for transfer laws or background check laws to have that clause that allows transfers for prevention of suicide. Overall, these legal hurdles just take too long during a psychiatric crisis.
It's still a lot harder for friends to help.
#Timing gun license#
But in some places like New York and Massachusetts, state laws can make that option almost impossible, according to Harvard's Cathy Barber.ĬATHY BARBER: In New York state, you might be a licensed gun owner, but you're still not supposed to hold on to somebody's guns because you're supposed to register each individual gun.īOLTON: The only way around it is for both people to go to a gun shop together and do the paperwork for an ownership transfer.īARBER: Not only do you need a background check, but you're supposed to have the license for the particular gun.īOLTON: Other states require less paperwork, but only if you're a close family member. Jandro and other gun shop owners say it's just easier to have friends and family store firearms for someone who is suicidal. NPR requested an interview with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which regulates gun shops, but did not receive a response. Jandro says these are people in crisis.īOLTON: In 2021, the Biden administration announced its support for the creation of more safe storage maps, but it also reminded gun dealers that they still had to do background checks. Getting treatment doesn't necessarily disqualify someone from getting the gun back, but the questions are confusing. And the background check includes questions about mental health treatment. I mean, we see it.īOLTON: Jandro says people do ask him about storing their guns, but many customers back out once they hear that they'll need to pass a background check later when they come back to get their gun. And especially over these last three years, people are just more depressed than they've ever been. But co-owner Chris Jandro says only two people have ever actually used the service.ĬHRIS JANDRO: There's not a dealer that we don't know that doesn't want to stop this madness, you know, with people and depression. Hammer Down Firearms is a gun shop outside Denver, and it's on the safe storage map for Colorado. But state and federal gun laws make it more complicated than it seems in theory. The maps identify locations like gun shops where people can store their guns if they are in crisis. But he's undecided.īEAL: I'm not really sure that firearms dealers doing hold agreements is the best idea or not.īOLTON: A few states such as Maryland and Colorado have published what are called safe storage maps online. But more recently, public health officials have asked Beal to store guns for people in crisis. Here, they always encourage customers to keep their guns locked up.
1 seller is right here.īOLTON: It's a tall, narrow, metal safe that can hold long guns like rifles and also smaller pistols. You start with trigger locks - very basic - little vaults so you can get to them quick.īOLTON: Locks and safes can keep firearms away from kids, keep them from being stolen and might even save lives if someone at home is feeling suicidal.īEAL: Like, our No. AARON BOLTON, BYLINE: At Capital Sports, a gun shop in Helena, Mont., firearm sales have boomed in recent years, but owner Ed Beal says so have sales of items that keep guns locked up and safe.ĮD BEAL: We'll start with safe storage.
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