September is Suicide Prevention Month, a time when yellow ribbons appear on lapels and social-media feeds fill with crisis-line numbers. Those reminders matter, but here in Alabama one of the strongest ways to prevent suicide may start at home: making sure every firearm is safe and secured.
Nearly half of the 1,300 gun-related deaths in our state last year were suicides—about two each day. Veterans shoulder an outsized share of that loss, with more than 100 dying by suicide in 2023; eight in ten used a gun.
The toll is personal for many families. Dr. Atcheson’s grandfather—a veteran who struggled with chronic pain after a wartime head injury—ended his life with his own firearm in 1978, leaving a lasting void in the family…