Marcon Shooting Range - Here are the facts you need to know about attempted suicides at Florida shooting ranges since 2009, according to data compiled by.
In the past four months, three men have walked into shooting ranges in Naples, hired guns and shot themselves. The latest incident occurred late Monday afternoon when a 28-year-old man rented a gun at the Alamo Armory in Naples and used it to kill himself.
Marcon Shooting Range
Although shooting range suicides account for less than 1 percent of firearm-related suicides in Florida, experts say most of them are preventable. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and a firearms trade group teamed up three years ago to do just that.
Marc On Shooting Donates Profits From Patriot Art Show To Support Chip
Yet none of the four owners of the 12 Floridagun ranges that Tee contacted used the free materials or training provided by the American Suicide Prevention Foundation, which developed the program with the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
Not at any of the four shooting ranges in Southwest Florida, where five suicides have occurred in the past 20 months.
Using media and police reports, The has counted 34 suicides or attempted suicides at shooting ranges in Florida over the past decade. Fowler Firearms & Gun Range in Fort Myers has been the site of two of these, one in 2012 and the other in 2017.
Store manager John Desendorf said he doesn't see a need for suicide prevention materials or education at his store. He said his staff's own judgment was sufficient.
Early 1950s Levi's Round Up Of Hunting Rifle Lore Fold Out Ad Flyer Levi Strauss
"We do not employ children. We are hiring adults. We hire people who are very responsible," he said. "I usually hire people who are retired, guys who were in the military, in the school district. Your entire business will be based on the people who work for you.”
That view is common among many range owners, said Alec Dean, owner of Firearm Forensics & Consulting LLC, which has trained range safety officials in Florida.
Although he never approached Fowler Firearms about a suicide prevention program, Dean said he tried to convince nearly 50 range and range safety officers in Florida to display National Shooting Sports Foundation posters or use their educational materials for suicide prevention training. No one, to his knowledge, has.
"It doesn't cost you anything, it saves you money and bad publicity, it can go a long way in preventing a potential lawsuit," Dean said. "And ultimately, it's been shown to be quite successful in tremendously reducing—if not completely preventing—events in the first place." So where's the downside?'
Location, Location, Location
Creating stories that improve our community takes time and resources. A subscription gives you unlimited access to our stories that change your life and the lives of those around you. You'll also get news from 109 local USA TODAY network sites.
The data shows 34 attempted suicides at shooting ranges in Florida since April 2009. Thirty of the 34 were fatal. In four cases, there is no information about the victim.
Most of the suicides follow a similar pattern: a person, often white, who does not own a firearm, comes to the shooting range unaccompanied and hires a gun to shoot. Data collected by The shows that:
The number of shooting range suicides recorded by You is probably less than the number. The industry is largely self-regulated, and no one keeps such statistics, not even nationally or in Florida, the state with the second-highest number of licensed firearms dealers, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
On The Field
A total of 47,173 people died by suicide nationwide in 2017, including 3,227 in Florida, according to the most recent data available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Just over half (50.6%) of these suicides involved a firearm. Suicides account for about two-thirds of gun deaths in the country.
Because of the role guns play in suicide deaths, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention has made connecting with the firearms community a major part of its "Project 2025," which aims to reduce such deaths by 20 percent by 2025.
According to the CDC, the suicide rate was significantly higher in 2017 than in 1999. The suicide rate increased by 1% per year from 1999 to 2006 and by 2% per year from 2006 to 2017. , reported the National Center for Health Statistics. From 1999 to 2017, the suicide rate in the US increased from 10.5 per 100,000 population to 14.0.
All 12,000 members of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which includes shooting ranges, have received suicide prevention materials in the past few years. But I couldn't find any ranges in Florida that use or display them.
Best Marco 5 Vanguard Loadout
The organization has partnered with the American Suicide Prevention Foundation since 2016, providing educational materials that include brochures encouraging people to have "brave conversations" with gun owners who may be suicidal, training materials for firearms dealers weapons that deal with the consequences of suicide. and suicide prevention videos.
Gun store owners across the country are slowly starting to embrace suicide prevention and educate their customers, said Doreen Marshall of the American Suicide Prevention Foundation.
"It's really an extension of all the other work that they do to make sure that the firearms that they rent or use in their establishment are used in a safe manner," Marshall said. "They don't want to become an establishment that is known to do this, both from a business perspective and from a PR perspective, but also from a safety perspective."
But when The asked to speak to the owner of a shooting range that uses suicide prevention materials, a spokeswoman for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention did not have one in Florida and instead referred the organization to the organization's office in Omaha, Nebraska.
Chippewa County Gun Shops Will Continue To Sell Semi Automatic Weapons
People in the firearms industry can be suspicious of any effort that casts guns in a negative light, said Bill Brassard of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
"Gun owners and shooting ranges are always cautious about the motivation behind a sensitive topic like suicide," Brassard said. “This is not about adding restrictions or taking firearms away from anyone. It's about prevention and helping people understand that suicide can be prevented."
Shoot Straight, which has eight locations in Florida, changed its policy after experiencing at least eight self-inflicted shootings in the past decade, according to data compiled by The . Owner Khaled Akaoui said the number could actually be as high as 10.
About five years ago, after seven suicides between 2009 and 2014, the company banned all rental guns from its stores, but later reinstated rentals with restrictions. Customers must now show they already own a gun or have a concealed carry permit, or arrive with someone who does to borrow a gun.
Cerus Gear Cz Shadow 2 Handgun Promat, Versatile Firearm Mat For Cleaning, Reloading, And More, Rifle Cartridges Printed To Scale, Fits Most Guns, Great For Any Desk Or Work Bench
That way, Akawi said, they know customers aren't coming into the store just to get access to firearms.
"Knock on wood, we haven't had one in a few years," he said. It used to be "one every year or unfortunately every other year".
A 19-year-old man killed himself at the 2017 Shoot Straight in Pinellas Park after new restrictions were put in place, but he convinced a man he met earlier that day to accompany him to the range.
Fowler Firearms & Gun Range in Fort Myers, which has had two suicides since 2012, requires gun renters to be 21 or older and read a safety form.
Marcon, Hakes Square Off For Gop Nomination For Chippewa Co Sheriff
Shoot Center, a shooting range in Cape Coral, was the site of a suicide last year. The case is a 23-year-old man who has never entered the store before. After lingering on the trading floor for several hours, he borrowed a gun, fired half a dozen rounds, and then ended his life.
The store's operator, Aaron Forum, keeps the used target - as well as the casing and bullet fragment from the incident - in his personal office. He said it was a reminder that businesses must remain vigilant.
"This is screening that is far more effective than the subjective nature of a 19-year-old officer trying to determine whether someone has mental health issues," the Forum said. "We are not mental health professionals and we cannot train our staff to be mental health professionals."
Rob Markham, owner of The Alamo in Naples, was interviewed in June, two months after the suicide of a 27-year-old man but before Monday's second suicide at the shooting range. He declined to comment but said he was shocked by the death.
Fireline Shooting & Training Center
"It makes me absolutely sick," Markham said at the time. “I don't even want to be in the business anymore.
Two days after Christmas in 2016, Gustavo Sirit walked into a Doral indoor shooting range three miles from his home, rented a gun and minutes later shot himself in front of half a dozen other customers, including an 11-year-old boy.
A group of men smoking in the parking lot outside the field entrance watched as Sirit entered. He walked past them without saying anything, but his demeanor left a lasting impression.
“It was a blank look in his eyes – have you seen anyone.
Langley Times, October 09, 2014 By Black Press Media Group
Sig p365 tulster holster, sig p365 iwb holster, sig holsters p365, sig p365 sas holster, sig p365 xl holster, sig p365 hybrid holster, appendix holster sig p365, safariland holster sig p365, sig p365 belt holster, sig p365 holster, sig p365 purse holster, sig sauer p365 holster
0 Comments