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The Gun Shop Project's "HOLD ON TO THEIR GUNS" Poster

This poster is part of a two-years-and-running effort by gun dealers and mental health workers in The Granite State called The Gun Shop Project. The NH GSP is a suicide prevention campaign that’s suddenly pinged the national media (and our) radar. They love it! I don’t! What does “HOLD ON TO THEIR GUNS” mean? Should concerned friends and family, suddenly elevated to mental health professionals, literally grab the guns of someone they consider depressed? Is that legal? If worried friends or relatives call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline and mention firearms will the Hotline folks call the cops? The GSP gun dealer tip sheet advises dealers to call the cops if they deny someone a firearm suspecting suicide. I don’t know the ideal answer to the question of how to deal with a potentially suicidal gun owner but . . . Protect life. Protect gun rights. Those efforts should not be mutually exclusive.

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74 COMMENTS

  1. Well, the message is clear. If you’re having any issues, troubles, anything…

    KEEP IT TO YOURSELF

    Otherwise, society will make things worse for you. Is that the point of it?

    • I think that anyone who has experience with people who are troubled or mentally ill will understand that someone has to take charge. You can’t leave these people “in charge” of their weapons. They are dangerous to themselves and potentially others. Just look around at the havoc wreaked. Your individual rights stop at the intersection of other peoples’ rights. Especially when death is at the intersection.

      • Paul, I just took a look at your linked twitter feed. I see you are Canadian see you are in favor of total gun confiscation and opposed to any individual right whatsoever to own firearms. I see you also opposed hunting.

        I see you belong to Mom’s Demand Action (interesting a Canadian male should), you state unequivocally US gun murder is “soaring” (it has plummeted),.

        So you are you are the type of person to grab onto this latest trojan horse strategy.

        The fact is removing guns does not move self inflicted death rates at all. Self inflicted death rates by prescription and non prescription drugs in Australia and Canada increased greatly since their gun control measures. Showing people just move to suicide by other means, often means that are suicide, but not ruled as such, like taking 30 opioid pills and getting ruled an “accident”.

        sure. Yeah you want us to do what Canada does, despite the simple fact that as guns were made harder to get, self hanging, self suffocation, jumps from bridges, and especially opioid “accidents’ SOARED as you made guns harder to get.

        We have 20 US jurisdictional studies showing that US murder is between 80% to 90% criminals killing criminals. In fact if you not a violent prior criminal or a member of gang, your risk of being murdered in Canada is markedly higher than in the USA.

  2. I think the message that if someone close to you is suicidal, you should ask to hold on to their guns for them while they get through it. I don’t think it’s that bad of an idea. People that are set on doing it will still do it, but some people wobble on the brink and can be dissuaded or deterred. Someone is more likely to have a change of heart in the time it takes to rig up a belt to a branch than the time it takes to charge a weapon and pull the trigger.

    • +1 I don’t have any trouble holding onto a friend’s keys if they’re too drunk to drive either. Its purely a decision between the gun owner and the people they trust though. The govt should continue to have no hand in this.

    • If someone is serious about suicide they will do it & it doesn’t have to be a gun
      Rob Drummond
      Hillsboro, NH

  3. My first wife was unstable and unpredictable. Word of advice to young guys, don’t stick your dick in crazy. I’m not a mental health professional but I had small kids and a real desire not to end like Phil Hartman. I left my guns at my brothers house or the house of a trusted friend until the day she walked out on me and the kids.

    • I have a buddy who was going through a rather acrimonious divorce with a slightly unbalanced lady who liked to tell stories. He had too many guns to relocate them all, so instead he pulled the bolts and/or firing pins from all of them, and handed those to a mutual friend. It was much easier, as they all fit nicely into a gallon sized ziploc.

  4. Friendship is a good thing but taking another’s gun is uncool, because you’re doing the controlling- ASK, and understand that NO means NO if they want to retain their right to choose- WTF? kind of subliminal messaging is this shit- This is telling everyone that they should take control of others, like the NWO is doing now to most of you- If something was bothering me that bad, I would consider eliminating the problem first- Why the hell should anyone allow another to drive them to suicide- It’s the mean and nasty of this world that spoils it for the rest of the Earth’s Life- What’s wrong with that picture?

  5. Depressed? Angry? Suffered a recent setback? Loosing hope? Think you’re better off dead?

    Congratulations. You’re Dianne Feinstein.

  6. I’m on the fence with this one.

    Friends and family that know the person may not be psychiatrists but they’re the ones that know an individual best and when their behavior changes for the worse and the first to take proactive steps.

    That being said the ad certainly has a bias against guns. It seems to give the impression that securing an individual’s gun(s) will greatly reduce the risk of suicide. Someone that truly wants to die will do it by any one of several methods.

  7. The Cops and all sorts of Military are going to disarm and kill us or leave us to die from exposure and pestilence from the horrors that are rapidly approaching- Genocide, Bullets, Planets, the FDA-DHS-PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY-INSURANCE-SECURITY-BANKERS-POLITITIONS-NEIGHBORS-AND-ETC. are Coming NOW! YOU BETTER GIVE IT SOME THOUGHT! NOW STUPID, NOT Tomorrow when you’re toast without any notice as you make coffee or sleep or drive home onto your street full of cops and foreign speaking military dead dogs everywhere and people too in many cases- You better give it some thought today- Soon, the ‘last warnings’ will have sounded- U-C, there is a lot going on- Stop feeling worthless and take a stand and or help some other but ask all things and allow the same choices as you want-

      • It’s just another troll. What kind of legit doomsday prepper would rant about a government conspiracy and yet still be dense enough to have a Facebook and blow all OpSec?

        • Shenandoah, I would be one of these that is ready to fight and they know where I live and what I drive and my phone and PC is LOL as much under their usage as mine- They know that I will be different if they confront me for even a traffic stop-I’m done taking crap from Uniforms and Government thugs- I don’t give a crap who knows it-Now do you think me dense, then you’re entitled- They think I am gone mad and they will kill me when we meet because I know what awaits me and I’m saying “NO TO THAT!” and meaning it- They want me then they will earn me- Have I answered your open query? I hope I have been clear-I mean no harm to anything unless messed with especially on my land where I am the ‘King’ and I use real vegetable seeds and use any water as I want and grow any animals I want and have any dog or wolf I want and dig holes and string things all about my place for intruders uninvited by and with any means I want- They want to murder and pillage the whole world and worship Lucifer and whatever, they can, BUT not on my land or in my face until I can no longer stand- This should clear up the prepper stuff for you and all that read and can clearly read between my lines-B-Safe I wish ya’ll well- I know what they have done, are doing and will do and you will not set with your feet on the coffee table watching this on the TV, because this one will consist of a hell-of-a-lot more that the 5 1/2 to 6 % of Americans involved with some form of action- LOL Six percent will be dead before anyone except them even knows ‘It’ has started- They already use Plasma Cannons and Electromagnetic Frequencies, Genocides, Poisons in preservatives in most foods, liquids and Pharmaceutics baby inoculations, even within so-labeled Health Supplements there are ‘all scale’ poisons, and in small quantities over extended periods of time, these poisons do exactly what the Nazis engineered them to do- That’s to activate various disease cells within out bodies put there by accumulated poisons over time and exposure and their reactions to each other deep within our bodies- B-Safe-

      • very seriously- follow, Wesley Thompson from [Richmond,VA] or [Knoxville TN] and utube as westhmpsn, a bunch of others- Yes and they use the Star Wars Defense System to Blow Up all sorts of people and things on the Earth’s Surface- The Fertilizer Plant the Last Plasma Blast from either a Drone, Anti Gravity Fighter, or one of the 24 plus 2 platforms above the Sky of Star Wars that cradle Laser and Plasma Canons that easily reach this earth or perhaps another someday from a Earthling Space Vessel searching for treasure and war as here on the Earth- Yes I fuc n serious-

      • When one watches every minute of every awaken moment for one’s demise to approach in Force with weapons up, Yes, I tend to be tense- I hope to ride away with those closest to me if you know what I mean- If there is a better place without control and terrorism from everything that wears a Uniform, then I might be interested BUT they WILL NOT CONTROL ME NOR INJECT ME WITH THEIR CHEMICALS TO MAKE ME LIKE BEING ROBED AND MURDERED- Yeap I get a bit on edge and especially when I know what they are up to with all the Foreign Troops in America, and I do try to watch for visitors so I can roll out the red carpet and open a bottle of ‘CHEERS’ for the underdogs of war- Cause when 1 1/2 Million die in another Country, 1 1/4 Million were ‘unarmed’- You give em yours and good luck later- They will take my ‘everything’ at once-

        • LOL You got me pegged Ralph- I guess according to my private conversations with all my friends at the VA and in all those friendly mental aid centers have me down as being full scale crazy- LOL They came to my house the morning that I pulled out for a new home- They thinks I might have a sharp pocket knife and could slice a strip from the Moon if allowed to keep breathing this fifthly air from their handiwork with the HAARP for the Flood and their Plasma Cannons for the top of #4 to be blasted downward into the Containment rather than outward and upward as a normal explosion from within the building would indicate- But when your nuts, Who listens to ya? If the Government says it’s a conspiracy then it’s usually more fact than fabrication- And I truly like telling others about things U-NO, and the excitement of knowing that any stand will be my last but I will die in rebellion and I will tell it like it is and make no friends, because there isn’t such a thing unless it’s not completely Human- Something from a nut case to think about-

  8. My brother went through a rough patch with his now ex-wife right after he found out she had run up $80,000 in credit card debt and had been running around on him. He agreed to let my parents keep his guns for awhile while he worked it out. We all felt a lot better about that.

  9. “Talking about being better off dead?” That’s just a guy realizing he’s over-insured.

    As for the “Feeling trapped?” “Losing hope?” “Going through legal trouble?” “Consuming more alcohol?”… These describe nearly everyone in a divorce proceeding or stuck in a dead end job. I have to wonder what poster they’re putting up at rope stores.

    • +1.. Rope stores, pest control retailers, pharmacies, and car dealerships. I understand that they were caught up in this hyper scrutiny on mental health and all. And I know peoples closest friends can sometimes be the ones who catch the signs of a seriously disturbed individual. But this is too broad and in some cases can describe a lot of college kids. I think again, common sense is the key here. And trying to make just any one into a mental health “armchair aficionado/expert -whatever” can be dangerous.

  10. I thought “it” was for the kids. Now its for the downtrodden. Maybe if the grabbers get depressed they can be forced to STFU & not(stay with me now) shoot, off their mouths, Randy

  12. Coming after my guns is a good way to risk being covered by the muzzle, depending on how much force the fool cares to exert. My guns are an expression of my right to choose. Try to take that away, and my veneer of civilization will be gone like dew before a summer sun.

    • Dam it man, I wish I had neighbors like you- These California and Christian Chickenshits refuse to shoot but will still draw fire- Go figure? I didn’t think being blown up or shot 50 times is going to be fun- I would like to avoid that but then my conscience would bother me if I didn’t try something to help my neighbors- I wish they weren’t afraid of dying- If this NIBIRU /ISON/PLANET X/WORMWOOD/ DESTROYER ‘COMING TOWARDS US’ turns out as I think it might, We-all are in for the ride of our lives- And watching my Government Destroy the Food Sources and all common denominators to grow food in America as it is HAARP’ed and Chem-trailed and Plasma Cannoned away is bound to be seen by others- The HAARP leaves a signature and the proof is in the pudding- They race all out before the visitor, because any left after passing will be messed up, hungry, hurt, no guns and will fall prey to their set-up to leave us in the Earth’s Surface and then latter will cleanup what and whose left, they will own all of the American Land again and start over with a Space Race Program for exploration into more of the same they practice here, to be inflicted on other victims and their Worlds- They have just about killed off the fighters of Earth and taken much percentage of the Earth as theirs- The Food Chain for ‘Expendables’ will change and many now in Uniform will soon not be needed- Their foolish dedication is to keeping People from forcing and fleeing to Underground Shelters- Their bodies will pile up from Drone Machine Guns and Laser etc. and the rich don’t want peasants to smell up their lairs-

  13. Because of foolish and misguided legislation requiring “universal” background checks in Colorado, come July 1st, this advice would be advocating breaking the law. Want to store your guns in a friends safe while you or your family member deals with depression? – against the law. Want to store your guns in your buddies house while the contractor is remodeling your basement? – against the law. Want to loan your brother-in-law a rifle for a week of hunting? – against the law. Sorry, veered a bit off topic but I’m pretty annoyed.

    • It’s Time to fix these stupid and out of control laws-Police openly admit and do tell others that ‘They are above the Law’ that they force on us for gain to themselves- It’s not protect and serve but rob and destroy- America-less than 6% of world’s Population- America-About 30% of the Worlds Incarcerated Population- 80%- Non-Violent Crimes many or most should never have been made into law- Average cost to Taxpayers per man per year-40plus Thousand and they may already have The Government’s Petitioned Congress for a near 20% increase pushing average costs 50 Thousand to house one person in a 6X9 Concrete and Steel Cage [that are in many cases] housing as many as 4 in one of these single cells now with two bunks- Anyone else is on the floor with splashing Urine on you as you sleep from the pooper-I know whole families of 4 and 5 that send kids to school , have cable TV pay their rent and buy their own groceries on less than 25 Thousand a year- More cops started Active Service in past 4 years than children born in the US- More Foreign Military here in America with ‘ALL THEIR WEAPONRY that number in the 100’s of Thousands-They rush to disarm and incarcerate or destroy any that might fight-Their special ‘Incinerators by all the Railway Tracks near to FEMA Prisons ‘across’ America are waiting as are Millions of FEMA Coffins that will hold the remains of 3 to 5 or more for kids, human corpses- They are set to have their way with us and want us hungry,disarmed and dead for robbing and burning- Just like all the ‘Other Countries’ that we watched go down the same way- LOL It’s AMERICA’s TURN NOW- R U willy willy weddy?

  14. a) not much different than taking the car keys from a friend who is drunk

    b) OTOH, if the right to privacy allows a woman to abort her fetus – and according to Obama and at least one spokesthing for Planned Parenthood, have a “postpartum abortion”, then the right to privacy should allow anyone to commit suicide. “My body, my choice.”

  15. It’s easy for me. I’m Catholic. We don’t get to heaven if we kill ourselves, only the hot place. No thanks. Now, I have dated a crazy woman before. That’s something else entirely.

  16. In my experience, it’s more akin to “Hey, joe – let me keep your guns at my place until you’ve got her out of your system, ‘K?”

    Not all that reprehensible.

  17. thruthaboutguns your losing me lately. Idk about you but if one of my friends said the were thinking about suicide I’m probably gonna take his friggin guns. Better I have them so when he snaps out of it he can have em back rather than he end up dead or get them confiscated.
    Pretty sure thats called being a good friend.

      • I would for sure ask first but if he said no and was truly suicidal I would take his guns(knives, ropes as well). Would I feel like a big man? no, I would feel bad but, there is a line in the sand you must draw at some point if you care about your friend.
        Just to re-iterate I am talking about seriously suicidal people, not about your friend joking he is gonna jump off a bridge because you out shot him at the range.

        • I’m wondering why your friends own guns Nick? A big part of it for me is force negation, that is so long as I am armed you can reason with me, but you can’t force me. Trying to ‘take’ my guns isn’t going to end well.
          Then again, I wouldn’t have a ‘friend’ who thought taking my property against my will and leaving me defenseless were acceptable activities under the banner of friendship.

          Then again, I usually try to avoid relationships with people lacking enough imagination as to think that by removing the guns and knives they’ve somehow staved off suicide.

  18. I know peoples closest friends can sometimes be the ones who catch the signs of a seriously disturbed individual. But this is too broad and in some cases can describe a lot of college kids. I think again, common sense is the key here. And trying to make just any one into a mental health “armchair aficionado/expert -whatever” can be dangerous.

  19. So cutting your wrists and or running people over in your car to have the Police shot you, or hanging your self or using poison you, in the end is less deadly???????

  20. This is a tricky one, at least for me. I definitely would want to do everything I can to ensure a family member or friend’s well being but a gun is only one way to do yourself in. Should I take the kitchen knives, rope, shoelaces, ect ….would o want someone to ” take ” my gun? And, what if I was wrong to assume they’re suicidal in the first place?

    • Precisely Eric, who gets to decide who is and isn’t suicidal. This sort of thing (suspending peoples rights over what they might do) is part of the ol’ slippery slope of yore. Constitutional and natural rights don’t end when you get the blues.

  21. You know what’s funny about living in New York? I could have the gun loaded on the table in front of me, with a suicide note all written out, but if my wife touched the gun to take it away from me, she’d be committing a crime since she doesn’t have a permit.

  22. As I roll over a half century, you know what the difference between today & days gone by? Everyone getting in other people’s business. My grandmother committed suicide with a gun. Want to know why? After 80 plus years she outlived her husband, her children, survived 8 hurricanes, a couple of robberies and just wanted to leave this world. My neighbors father smoked the 9. Survived his wife and two rounds of chemo had enough. Put his affairs in order, placed a note in his back pocket, walked into the back yard so not to make a mess in the house and left this world. I hope that if I were in the same circumstance, would have the same courage to leave this world.

    End of the day it’s not about trying to save someone but a misguided belief that life is sacred and should be preserved at all cost.

  24. I don’t know man, if I was gonna self check out, I’d go with a hand full of sleeping pills and some alcohol…I want to go out comfortable with no drama Nice, comfortable and relaxing route to the dirt nap. If your already hurting why add more?

    • Agreed. Self checkout at one’s discretion. The ONLY reason appointed do gooders want to help, is to drain your bank account. Mental Heath for the coin. If I have terminal C, I’ll quietly transfer funds into the spouses account so she can continue raising the kids and walk into the woods and become bear food.

  27. Military folks are in the self checkout line for the following reasons.
    The amount of collective bullshit is at an all time high. The 3P’s Policies – Programs – Political correctness. First and foremost, after living in beige scenery, there’s not one square inch of SWA dirt worth an American servicepersons life…PERIOD. The payment of treasure and blood for a culture living in the Stone Age, claiming serving the interest of the US is a lie. Soldiers (civilians turned shooters) live this truth and drown themselves in alcohol & drugs to numb reality, working to understand why his buddies brain bucket became mush…when to much to bear, they move to the checkout line. No worries though an army of brain doctors standing in line to collect congress coin to help the poor soldiers ease back into society. Make words, sell it and collect…Legislators feel good but coroners collect.

    The real evil here is a government cannot sift through its own bullshit, waits for a regiment of warriors to check out, establishes committees, and solicits lobbyist to come up with programs to “help”. Bottom line is…do as many repeat tours as the current force, apply the pressure of war and act surprised returning vets are having difficulties. Make them get a real job and vote all of them out.

  28. I live in a state where assisted suicide is the law for terminal patients
    The Prez said grandma should just take the medicine instead of being fixed

    how hypocritical are we to interfere with a person’s ultimate right to choose?

    Not that i would encourage general suicide, but isn’t the blaming of guns a bit hypocritical?

  29. My brother committed suicide yesterday via drug overdose. He had been struggling with his demons for a while and we did secure his guns from him, for all the good it did. I am glad we did it, if for no other reason than the fact that this tragedy won’t be exploited, even as a statistic.

    I get the argument that guns make it more likely that an impulsive suicide attempt will succeed, but I can tell you that people who are struggling with serious issues and want to kill themselves will find away unless you are able to commit them, and even then you may just be prolonging the inevitable.

    For all the talk by gun grabbers about how important it is to strip away the 2A to save lives, they could save way more lives by decriminalizing and destigmatizing drugs and mental illness to help those affected get into treatment without having to feel like they are “bad” people or risking going to prison.

    • Well spoken. This is where the balance should be. Not left or right but where self reliance intersects a need. Offer a sunrise but if comfort presents in darkness, all that can be done is love and when emotion presents, raise a glass…..peace.

    • About fifteen years ago, I lost a nephew.

      Brian had always been a solemn sort, and while we were saddened, none of us were really surprised.

      He went into the garage with a rope – a slow, ugly death – rather than using his father’s 1911, to which he’d ready access.

      Someone who plans to die generally does so, gun or no gun.

  30. Losing hope? Angry, depressed? Legal trouble or other setbacks? Feeling trapped?

    Comes with the territory of being a liberty-minded American in modern America.

  31. Brian.
    Sorry to hear about your brother.
    Drugs are a huge suicide risk.

    Guns, drugs, running cars, there are many ways to end your life.

    If you have ever been around a friend or family member that is so truly in a suicidal state you have to do everything you can , including taking medications, securing knives, car keys and yes firearms.
    Your 2A rights end when you die. So, if someone keeps you alive by protecting you when you need it, that’s he right thing to do.

    This program is just about education, reminding people of their options.

  32. It’s not hard to feel a bit down with the economy. I have been out of work since mid-February. The redundancy payout is about to run out, but the bills and mortgage don’t stop. I have occasional “blue” days, especially when I lose out on final selection to someone else, or from employment agents who promise to get back to me but never do, or having what most consider a minor part of the position being made the most critical, or having to make sense of the alphabet soup of acronyms in the ads. I’m probably about a month away from losing the house and probably my family as well. An economist would probably call this “collateral damage from the downturn”.

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