A primary focus of the University of Colorado Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative (FIPI) is to work closely with communities, including firearm owners, to prevent firearm injuries and deaths. Research shows that firearm owners often trust law enforcement, military personnel, and firearm retailers to share messaging on responsible firearm ownership and injury prevention compared to physicians or medical professionals. These findings have led FIPI to take new approaches for partnership and education on secure firearm storage.
FIPI faculty and staff are working on two new projects with firearm businesses, industry professionals, and military installations to expand the conversation on the role secure firearm storage plays in saving lives and preventing injury.
With funding from the United States Department of Defense Suicide Prevention Office, FIPI launched Pause to Protect, a voluntary program that engages firearm businesses and owners to take easy steps to help prevent accidents, theft, suicide, and other violence involving personally owned firearms. Pause to Protect includes a national map, created in partnership with Pierce’s Pledge, that shows locations of firearm businesses that offer voluntary, temporary firearm storage. With additional funding from USAA and from Face the Fight, a coalition of nonprofits and corporations aiming to reduce veteran suicides, FIPI is leading work to study the role that discounts for firearm locking devices, like gun safes or trigger locks, may play in encouraging people to purchase and use such devices.
“These projects demonstrate the importance of researchers considering how to translate research into practice settings so that what we know can effectively save lives is accessed by those who most need it,” says Erin Kelly, DrPH, MA, director of research and evaluation for FIPI and research associate for the Injury and Violence Prevention Center in the Colorado School of Public Health. Kelly is a researcher co-leading Pause to Protect and Face the Fight. She previously led the development of VetStore, a pilot program that informed Pause to Protect.
“Through these programs, it is obvious that firearm businesses want to and can lead efforts to promote secure firearm storage and provide education and services that can benefit military and veterans in their communities,” she says. “I feel proud that we have worked closely with firearm businesses to embed these effective strategies and resources into their business operations.”
Making a difference between life and death
When firearms retailers offer firearm locking devices, it can create an opportunity to talk to customers about the importance of secure storage of personal firearms. Secure storage can “put more time and space between a firearm and a person at-risk of harming themselves or others,” as FIPI’s founding Director Emmy Betz, MD, MPH, professor of emergency medicine, describes, and it can thereby help prevent suicide, unintentional shootings, and firearm theft.
With firearms retailers as known trusted messengers for lethal means conversations and additional avenues for education, there’s a need for programs like Pause to Protect to support in talking about a topic that could mean life or death.
“Talking about mental health matters, but not everyone has the expertise in mental health treatment to talk about it,” says Matt Wetenkamp, outreach coordinator for FIPI. “Firearms are the most lethal means of attempted suicide. Having this additional avenue as a trusted messenger is extremely valuable.”
“Our communities support us every day. Why wouldn’t we take this step to help protect them?” adds Jacquelyn Clark, co-owner of Bristlecone Shooting, Training, and Retail Center and a firearms industry partnership coordinator with FIPI. “[This program] has given [Bristlecone Shooting, Training, and Retail Center] employees a sense of engagement and that they’re making a difference. It’s also given us a much deeper connection to our community.”
Conceptualizing an effective program
Pause to Protect was launched the with the mission of preventing suicides in military communities. VetStore, the pilot program that informed Pause to Protect, allowed researchers to test the concept and develop the materials that are now being used for businesses that are being engaged in Pause to Protect.
The initial VetStore rollout was funded by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs as part of the Mission Daybreak challenge, which invested in 30 innovative ideas around the nation with the goal of reducing suicide among veterans. Kelly and the FIPI team, the architects of VetStore, were finalists. VetStore became a low-cost, free, in-home and out-of-home storage options for veterans, which was expanded to include active military service members through Pause to Protect.
FIPI's Erin Kelly, DrPH, MA, Matthew Wetekamp, and Joseph Simonetti, MD, MPH, pose for a photo after a VetStore presentation in 2022.
Through Pause to Protect, researchers are facilitating partner networks of civilian firearm ranges and retailers surrounding five military installations in the U.S.; Buckley Space Force Base, Minot Air Force Base, Camp Lejune, Newport News, and Joint Base Lewis–McChord. In each network, partner locations provide education and resources for secure firearm storage for service members and their families. However, the Pause to Protect model is designed for national scale up and is customizable to any business in the U.S. and to non-military communities. All materials, as well as support for interested businesses, are publicly available.
The online Pause to Protect resource hub offers options and templates for businesses to find the best path for them when it comes to educating and working with customers on secure storage. The program is unique from other suicide or injury prevention programs because it provides education for staff of firearm retailers, the focus is expanded beyond suicide, there is financial and technical support for initial partners, and it links customers to locations for temporary secure storage of personally-owned firearms.
“The beauty of what we’re doing with Pause to Protect consists of the opportunity for retailers to customize their engagement and involvement,” says Jehrin Clark, a firearm industry partnerships coordinator with FIPI. “What’s most pivotal is that we value feedback. It’s a two-way communication between us and the businesses. It creates the space and the atmosphere for us to be collaborative.”
Another component of Pause to Protect involves creating a support network for firearm businesses to open the conversation on implementing educational tools. FIPI facilitates virtual “office hours” twice a month for firearm business owners or operators interested in learning more about offering education and services, like on-site storage, to help prevent accidents, theft, suicide, and other violence involving personally owned firearms.
Studying accessibility of locking devices
Locking devices can help protect against firearm suicide or injury, and a study led by FIPI researchers shows that firearm owners have varied preferences on the type of device and may be more likely to purchase one if they receive a discount. FIPI launched a new project with funding from USAA and grant support from Face the Fight™ that aims to create or accessible, affordable, and voluntary secure firearm storage for military veterans.
Researchers are working with five firearm retail shops in the Rocky Mountain region, and each of the shops will have an assigned discount level for veterans. The researchers will evaluate effectiveness through a customer survey on the extent to which the discount code influenced their decision to purchase the device and assess each shop’s log of sales.
“The research team is looking to identify the optimal discount level for a firearm locking device, like a small lockbox, that might encourage veterans to purchase the device,” says Ian Stanley, PhD, military and veteran lead for FIPI and psychological health lead for the CU Center for COMBAT Research. Stanley is co-principal investigator on the study and represents the University of Colorado on the Face the Fight scientific advisory committee.
The outcomes of the study will better inform researchers on whether a financial discount breaks down a barrier for customers to purchase a locking device, and further research could test effectiveness of the discount on a larger scale.
Beyond these two new initiatives, FIPI collaborators are working closely with firearms communities, community leaders, law enforcement, the military, and industry members year-round through outreach initiatives, studying lethal means counseling, developing educational materials, and more, with the goal to prevent firearm injuries and deaths among at-risk populations.
The first week of June is Gun Storage Check Week, the Firearm Industry Trade Association’s national campaign to encourage all gun owners to check their firearm storage practices. Visit the Pause to Protect website to discover which local businesses may offer secure firearm storage options for you or your loved ones in a time of need, and browse FIPI’s online resources to learn about creating a firearm life plan and considering secure storage options.
