Firearm businesses as partners in suicide prevention: a cross-sectional study of the Gun Shop Project in Colorado, USA

Background The Gun Shop Project aims to reduce firearm suicide and is widely implemented in the USA, yet little is known about the core firearm business practices and behaviours that might contribute to preventing firearm suicide. Methods Owners or managers of all firearm businesses identified as participants in Colorado’s Gun Shop Project were invited to respond to a questionnaire. Data collection occurred from March to May 2021. Analyses included unweighted descriptive statistics with CIs and Pearson χ 2 tests for categorical associations. Results 54 firearm businesses participated (response rate: 28%). Under half reported practices that are Gun Shop Project core aspects (range: 14%–45%). 22% of businesses frequently engaged customers on the importance of safe firearm storage in suicide prevention while 26% had denied a firearm sale and 14% had assisted with temporary secure storage in the past year with customers perceived to be in suicidal crisis. However, high proportions reported willingness to engage in these behaviours if a customer was in crisis: 74% were willing to refuse a sale of a firearm or ammunition, 70% were willing to discuss temporary secure storage options and 70% were willing to direct customers to mental health services. Conclusions This study suggests that efforts to continue educating and involving firearm businesses may have an impact on the adoption of organisational suicide prevention practices and behaviours. Ongoing efforts are needed to understand core components of Gun Shop Project to inform standardised recommendations for effective firearm business practices that prevent firearm suicide.