In Wyoming, the state with the highest suicide rate per capita, experts are pushing for safer storage of firearms as part of prevention, NPR reported Jan. 23.
The smallest state in the nation by population, Wyoming had the highest rate of suicide deaths per capita according to CDC data from 2021, the latest available, and the highest rates of suicide by firearm according to the Pew Research Center.
Mental health professionals in the state told NPR more gun stores in the state are adding safe storage services — providing a secure place to store firearms when their owners feel they cannot have them in their homes.
"Something like this is not going to solve all the problems. But it's a start," Lloyd Baker, who owns a gun retailer in Laramie, Wyo., told NPR. "We're not here to judge. We're not here to point fingers. We're here to reduce the stigma, first off, around firearm storage and mental health."
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