I spent a large portion of September, which was National Suicide Prevention Month, working to bring awareness to suicide and finding ways we can eliminate the stigma surrounding suicide and mental health in Wisconsin. The simple fact is that each and every one of us either has been affected ourselves or knows someone who has been affected by a suicide loss or has experienced a mental health condition. It’s also the case that we often don’t talk about suicide and we often don’t know how to get help when we need it.

To this end, I introduced a brand new piece of legislation to create the Firearm Self-Exclusion Program in Wisconsin. The program, which is modeled after decades-old self-exclusion programs targeting gambling, would require the Department of Justice to create and maintain a list of persons who want to voluntarily exclude themselves from being able to purchase a handgun in Wisconsin. Firearm-involved suicides comprise nearly half of the suicides that occur in Wisconsin annually and make up nearly two-thirds of all gun deaths nationally. But what’s most important about this legislation is that this legislation doesn’t take away anyone’s guns and it doesn’t put anyone on the self-exclusion list involuntarily — it’s all about self-selection and giving people the opportunity to take proactive steps to ensure their own safety. It’s a simple solution that will save lives.

Suicide is such a highly stigmatized subject in our society and the Firearm Self-Exclusion Program is a proactive, preventative measure intended to not just raise awareness, but to make it socially acceptable for people to take action to be safe when they’re in crisis. So, this National Suicide Prevention Month, I hope you will join me in reducing mental health and suicide stigma by normalizing conversations about suicide and by raising awareness for suicide prevention in Wisconsin.