Gun Safety and Behavioral Health Awareness 

Despite state and national efforts, suicide continues to be a concern for rural Coloradans. While only comprising 10% of the suicide attempts, firearms make up 90% of the deaths by suicide due to the lethality of the means. Firearm access and use are a part of daily life for rural people and people within agriculture. Additional focus is needed to educate this population around firearms’ safety and mental health concerns.  

Gunnison and Hinsdale Counties have a program aimed at reducing substance use and legal involvement for their youth, called Gunnison County Substance Abuse Prevention Project (GCSAPP). This program requires parental involvement through attending required trainings throughout the year, covering various topics. According to the Silver Thread (Lake City) 2025 needs assessment, over half of respondents (58%) expressed interest in attending a local firearm safety training focused on keeping children safe around guns. The Colorado AgrAbility Project collaborated with CU Anschutz’ Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative (FIPI) gun safety expert to provide these workshops. 

GCSAPP and Hinsdale and Gunnison Public Health Departments organized three community workshops in Lake City, Crested Butte and Gunnison. These mental health and firearm safety workshops, intended for parents of GCSAPP participants, were of such interest that they were opened to the communities, and a total of 63 participants attended. Hinsdale and Gunnison Public Health and GCSAPP used this educational opportunity to provide free gun safes to every single participant, including gun lock cords, car/portable safes (in response to new laws), and even biometric safes.  

There were 14 participants that completed the post-workshop survey showing 85% somewhat or strongly agreed that they felt more comfortable talking about mental health concerns; 93% somewhat or strongly agreed they felt more confident engaging if someone had a mental health concern, and 79% somewhat or strongly agreed they knew what to do if someone had a mental health concern. 

During these workshops, community members inquired about the possibility to expand this training to other locations around CO. Education about difficult topics, how to talk with someone who is having a mental health crisis, firearm safety, and giving out safes is a step in improving community conversations, connection, and decreasing overall risk.