MISSOULA — Statistics show that more than 130 children died in Montana as a result of suicide between 2013 and 2022, and that 56% of those deaths were caused by a firearm.
This month, both Missoula's Hellgate Elementary and Victor schools are running a Safe Storage Campaign, hoping to stop child suicide and promote responsible gun storage.
The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services reports that the suicide rate among youth ages 10–17 was nearly three times the national average from 2013 to 2022.
They add that a firearm in a home may increase the risk of suicide.
To combat these statistics, free trigger and cable locks are now available at Victor Schools and Hellgate Elementary to help keep guns secure and children safe.
"From birth to age 18, you know, when they're school-age children, let's do everything we can as a school community to make sure that guns are locked up safely and that they have the appropriate hardware on them to reduce that activation," Hellgate Elementary Superintendent Molly Blakely told MTN.
Anyone with kids in need of a gun lock can get one, no matter if their children are at these particular schools or not.
Only adults are allowed pick up the locks. They will be available until February 23, 2026.
