Firearm leadership: Development, analysis, and application of a novel concept to message secure storage of firearms in the military

ABSTRACT

Suicide remains a leading cause of death in the United States (U.S.) Armed Forces. Access to firearms increases the risk of death by suicide due to the high lethality of firearm-related injuries (~90% in suicide attempts) and the highly dynamic nature of suicide which includes rapid change from low- to high-risk states. Critical gaps remain in research, programming, and communication amongst scientists, Department of Defense (DoD) programmatic leaders, front-line commanders, and service members. To enhance communication and coordination, in June 2022, the first-ever national “Firearm Suicide Prevention in the Military: Messaging and Interventions Summit” was held, with discussion of Firearm Leadership, a concept that emphasizes the importance of communication about lethal means safety (LMS) among military leaders and service members. Through a discussion of scientific literature, the points identified during the Summit, as well as presenting illustrative case examples derived from suicide death reviews, we aim to provide a conceptual model for the benefits of Firearm Leadership and how some barriers can be overcome. Following the Summit, further discussions on “Firearm Leadership” led to the development of a Firearm Leadership Factsheet.

KEYWORDS:

• Firearms
• lethal means safety
• firearm leadership
• military

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The submitted paper is conceptual in nature and therefore, an openly available data repository is not applicable.

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy of the Department of Defense (DoD), Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU), and/or the United States Government.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. https://www.cstsonline.org/assets/media/documents/spp/CSTS_SPP_Firearm_Leadership_Actions_to_Reduce_the_Risk_of_Suicide_and_Harm.pdf; free and open access for public.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Uniformed Services University of the Health Services (Pass-Through Entity: The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc.; [PO Number: 1045009, Subaward Number: 5937].