1. Leveraging Firearms Retailers to Reduce Suicide Deaths
Neil Carey, PhD and Henry Griffis, PhD
August 2, 2017
Department of Defense/U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Suicide Prevention Conference, August 1-3, 2017, Denver, Colorado

2. Outline
Background & Issues
Approach
Tasks
Discussion

3. Background and Issues Background
Reducing suicidal person’s access to lethal means can lower suicide deaths (Barber & Miller, 2015; Vriniotis et al., 2015)
State of Colorado has shown interest in reducing firearms suicides
Military has a unique culture regarding use of firearms
Defense Suicide Prevention Office (DSPO) identified an opportunity
Issues
Design an experiment on effectiveness of educational materials and gun safety devices at firearms shops near Colorado Air Force bases
-What stakeholders need to be consulted in designing a field experiment?
What should be the design of an experiment on the provision of safety training and devices?
What survey questions should be asked to assess whether the treatment had its intended effects?
What publicly-available and other datasets could be used to assess effectiveness?

4. Approach Identify stakeholders Design experiment (next slide)
Air Force Suicide Prevention Office
Commands of Air Force bases in Colorado
Colorado Suicide Prevention Efforts (e.g., Becker, 2016)
Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC)
Design experiment (next slide)
Non-equivalent control group design with pre-experiment and post-experiment measures

5. Two potential designs (nominal examples)1 2 3
Control
Safety Ed Materials
Safety Ed
Materials + Gun Locks B1 20 B2 B3 1 2 3
Control
Buyer Screening
Buyer Screening + Gun Locks B1 20 B2 B3

6. Possible measures Reasons for buying a firearm
Knowledge and attitudes towards gun safety
Perceptions of instructional materials and gun safety devices provided
Impulsivity
Hopelessness/locus of control
Attitudes towards suicide prevention efforts
Interviews with firearms shops owners concerning experiment

7. Tasks Establish stakeholder agreement on support of the experiment
Develop the study design
Develop surveys and decide on measures
Identify information in databases and identify available data
Pursue Air Force Survey approvals
Document results, incorporate sponsor comments, disseminate
Follow-on study
Recruit firearms store owners to participate
Recruit firearms buyers
Collect data
Analyze data
Report results of experiment

8. Discussion
What is the effectiveness of educational materials, buyer screening, and gun safety devices in reducing suicide deaths?
From the buyer’s perspective
From the firearms seller’s perspective
What barriers exist to the effective use of educational materials, buyer screening, and gun safety devices?
What do these results mean for future suicide prevention efforts?