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WILKES-BARRE — It started as a session on what law enforcement can do to reduce gun suicides, but shifted quickly to the need of more attention to mental health at earlier ages, more counselors and resource officers in high schools, and a change in cultural attitudes about gun purchases, sales and secure storage.
It was the last person to speak, Jon Hanover of Ceasefire PA, who offered the most personal example: His teenage daughter had attempted suicide, but his ex-wife — a member of the Air Force — kept the gun and ammo locked separately. The daughter got to the gun, but couldn’t get the bullets. She lived, he said, and “we were able to have that conversation.”
State Attorney General Josh Shapiro teamed with Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis to host a roundtable with representatives from Wilkes University, Ceasefire PA and other community leaders on ways to curb rising cases of gun suicides in the state. Shapiro opened with grim statistics: Some 1,500 gun deaths a year state-wide, roughly two-thirds of them suicides.
He cited his office’s efforts, much of which is a matter of enforcing existing laws: putting all crime guns into a state database because one gun can be found to be used in three or four different crimes; increasing speed in filing gun purchase paperwork with the state by getting retailers to do so electronically; and reducing “straw purchases” — people buying guns for other people. About 80 percent of straw purchases in Pennsylvania are women, he added.
He also pointed to unexpected success of the relatively new state-wide student anonymous Safe2Say Something tip line, which got 25,000 tips in two months, with about 5,000 “life saving tips, and nearly every single one had to do with suicide and suicide ideation.”
Salavantis noted Luzerne County has the third highest number of domestic violence fatalities and welcomed any new help or ideas. She also backed Shapiro’s call for parents to secure guns at home. “If you think your child doesn’t know how to get into your locked safe, you are out of your mind,” she said. “We need to have these discussions with families.
CeaseFire PA Executive Director Shira Goodman stressed how important it is to keep guns out of the hands of those contemplating suicide because, unlike other ways to kill oneself, guns rarely offered a second chance. And she debunked the argument that those who can’t get a gun will “just fine another way.
“Statistics show that a gun in the home is more likely to be used to harm someone in that home than any other way.”
Wilkes University Psychologist Mia Bartoletti likened treating mental health issues to a pyramid: At the top were people getting symptoms treated with medication but not getting help with underlying issues, while at the bottom is “cognitive inflexibility.” The most success in preventing suicides, she added, comes comes in dealing with the middle of the problem: a lack of skills in coping with problems.
The goal is to help students see that having problems is not a stigma, that seeking help is not a sign of weakness, and to understand most traditional college students have not yet physically developed the part of the brain that helps cope with emotional and social problems.
Bartoletti also advocated for tackling concerns at earlier ages, saying it saves money in the long run. She said more counselors in schools and access to outside help 24 hours a day is essential.
Rabbi Daniel Swartz of Temple Hesed in Scranton noted it can help to reframe some of the debate away from the notion of “law enforcement” and to “community safety.” He said he has seen situations where parents heavily monitoring social media use by their children overreacted and made matters worse.
He recounted Jewish lessons about the need to build parapets on roofs to help prevent people from falling from them, rather than trying to prevent people from going onto a roof. He suggested dealing with guns and gun use requires all parties to “decide what our roles are.”
Dallas High School senior Calvin Polacheck, a member of Students Demand Action, echoed the need for more staff in high school that students feel they can talk to about concerns outside of academics. He cited the district’s school resource officers as a good example because they “are very relatable” and “don’t have anything to do with your grades.”
Wilkes Associate Professor of Sociology Andrew Wilczak summed much of the discussion by comparing a student missing class with a broken leg to one missing class due to depression. The latter, he said, should not be deemed less valid. “The solution is to realize that a mental health problem is a health problem.”
