“They say time heals all wounds, but it doesn’t”
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Micky and Mark were both military veterans who knew how to handle firearms. And like many veterans, they both struggled with mental health and thoughts of suicide. But neither of them owned a gun themselves.
Unfortunately, the gun owners around them were not responsible and did not securely store their weapons. This allowed Micky and Mark – in a moment of crisis – to seek a permanent “solution” to a temporary problem. They were able to easily access those weapons and take their own lives.
Left to grapple with the loss was Edie, Micky’s wife and Mark’s sister-in-law. Years later, Edie would also lose her son, Matthew, to gun homicide.
Micky and Mark likely wouldn’t have been able to access those guns and make those impulsive, fatal decisions if the gun owners around them were required to securely store their weapons. PA is one of a minority of states that does not have a safe gun storage requirement.
This is Edie’s story.
SOURCES:
- Households with securely-stored firearms have lower rates of firearm suicide than households with unsecured guns
- 76% of school shooters under 18 acquired the gun from the home of a parent or close relative
- 44,000 guns were estimated stolen just a 6-year period in PA alone
- 142 children and teens die by gun in PA each year
- 34 states have some kind of secure gun storage law on the books