As someone who lives with bipolar disorder and recurring suicidality, I have always known that I should not have easy access to a gun. But during one especially painful mood episode, I researched where to buy one. I found a store near my home in Northern Virginia and looked up directions.
At the time, I worked at a nonprofit dedicated to gun violence prevention. I could recite every reason why someone who is suicidal should not have access to a gun. When I was well, I advocated fiercely for measures that would temporarily separate those who are suicidal from guns. But when I was ill, my logic vanished.
Luckily, self-preservation prevailed. Instead of driving to the gun store, I went to my psychiatrist’s office. I got the help I needed. I survived. So many other Virginians do not. In 2019, there were 661 firearm suicide deaths in Virginia, and nearly three in every five suicides in Virginia are by firearm.
For people like me, who recognize that they are prone to suicidality, Virginia has an innovative firearm suicide prevention tool. Over the summer, the commonwealth became one of the first states to enact a new kind of firearm suicide prevention policy called voluntary self-prohibition. This policy allows interested adults to fill out a form, attach a copy of their photo ID, and send it to Virginia State Police. The VSP then maintains and updates the voluntary do-not-sell firearms list to prohibit the possession, transportation, and sale of firearms to adults on the list.
If someone on the voluntary do-not-sell list decides to remove themselves, they can do so after a waiting period of 21 days — a measure to prevent impulsive suicide attempts.
Temporarily reducing access to firearms during periods of high risk can save lives. Research shows that access to firearms increases the risk of suicide and keeping a gun in the home increases the odds of suicide more than three-fold.
Additionally, while existing gun ownership is a risk factor for suicide, recent handgun buyers also appear to be at greater risk for suicide. Virginia’s voluntary self-prohibition law addresses this problem by allowing individuals to preemptively put a barrier between themselves and the most lethal method of suicide. The law gives people prone to suicidality — people like me — the agency to make decisions about their own access to guns when they are not actively suicidal.
I wasn’t myself when I was suicidal. I couldn’t think clearly. I couldn’t see the value of my life. I couldn’t feel anything but the pain I was in and the urge to do something about it. If I had purchased a gun that day, a fleeting moment of anguish could have easily become a permanent loss.
Voluntary self-prohibition is a policy that acknowledges both suicide’s preventability and the role of the individual in preventing it. Voluntary self-prohibition is not the only intervention we need. It will not work for everyone. But it is a piece of the puzzle — one more tool Virginians have to save lives. Suicide is not inevitable. Approximately 90% of those who survive a suicide attempt do not go on to die by suicide. They get help. They remember their reasons for living. They decide to continue.
September is National Suicide Prevention Month. Virginia is one of only three states where voluntary self-prohibition is the law of the land. Virginians have access to this innovative firearm suicide prevention tool, and those who recognize their risk for firearm suicide should take advantage of the law.
Through voluntary self-prohibition, Virginians can be proactive and protect themselves when they are well, knowing the unwell version of themselves might not make the best decisions related to their health and wellbeing.
Bryan Barks is a graduate student in the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She previously worked in gun violence prevention for six years and is writing her thesis on voluntary self-prohibition.
