September is Suicide Awareness and Prevention Month.National data shows that 58% of men and 33% of women who die by suicide used a firearm. averaging 54%. I don’t have firearm usage for California, but across the borer in Curry County in 2021, 72% of our deaths by suicide were by handguns. 50% of them women. Curry had as many women use a firearm as Washington County, with over 600,000 citizens and Clackamas and Deschutes Counties combined. This should be a wake-up call for City and County government AND all citizens.I’ve talked with literally thousands of rural men about firearms and suicide throughout 26 Midwestern and Western states since 1995. I estimate roughly 70% of them said they owned a firearm, 40% of them bought one for home protection, and 30% kept one loaded in the house, most in the bedroom. I asked if they ever had to use a firearm in a home invasion? I have yet to have a man answer “Yes.”.The reason I bring this up is that national statistics show that of the youth who die by suicide using a firearm, 78% of them found it in their home. That ‘s terrible odds to leave a firearm loaded or not locked up in these times of high depression and anxiety rates for our youth and seeing youth as young a five dying by suicide using a firearm.#placement_573654_0_i{width:100%;max-width:550px;margin:0 auto;}var rnd = window.rnd || Math.floor(Math.random()*10e6);var pid573654 = window.pid573654 || rnd;var plc573654 = window.plc573654 || 0;var abkw = window.abkw || '';var absrc = 'https://ads.empowerlocal.co/adserve/;ID=181918;size=0x0;setID=573654;type=js;sw='+screen.width+';sh='+screen.height+';spr='+window.devicePixelRatio+';kw='+abkw+';pid='+pid573654+';place='+(plc573654++)+';rnd='+rnd+';click=CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER';var _absrc = absrc.split("type=js"); absrc = _absrc[0] + 'type=js;referrer=' + encodeURIComponent(document.location.href) + _absrc[1];document.write('');Look for the “People who love guns love you” gun safety brochures at gun shops and the R U OK? brochures and crisis wallet cards at over 53 retail locations throughout Crescent City and 7 in Smith River. Find the locations at ZeroAttempts.org/partners.html to learn what people are saying, doing and going on in their lives and how to help. Suicide is preventable. Know to signs.Gordon ClayBrookings, Ore. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('ad-1515727'); });