After her husband ended his life with a bullet in 2011, Jennifer Stuber went to the two Washington stores where he had bought guns to talk with the owners about suicide prevention.
That bold move by Stuber, an associate professor at the University of Washington School of Social Work, eventually led to the passage of a bill signed into state law March 31 by Gov. Jay Inslee. The bill brings together two unlikely partners — the firearms industry and suicide prevention advocates — with pharmacists in an effort to curb suicide deaths.
The legislation was drafted in consultation with the National Rifle Association and the Second Amendment Foundation, a Washington gun rights group. Alan Gottlieb, the foundation’s executive director, said gun owners and retailers, some of whom have lost loved ones to suicide, have long been concerned about the issue but unsure how to address it.
“None of us know what to look for in warning signs that someone might be in the process of a suicide attempt,” he said. “This legislation is going to be good for our people, because this is information that they need.”
Stuber said the legislation succeeded largely because it involved the firearms industry from the start.