In Missouri, roughly 752 people die by firearm suicide each year.
While firearm suicide is not the most common way, it is the most fatal. The American Academy of Pediatrics says that firearm attempts are 91% fatal, compared to attempts involving drug overdoses, which are 23% fatal.
No law, limited protections
Despite the high risk of fatalities, no state law governs firearm storage in Missouri.
Only 16 states and Washington, D.C., have laws regarding safe gun storage, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Missouri was ranked the 10th-highest in gun-death rates in 2024, with 11.6 per 100,000 Missouri residents dying from firearm suicide, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Gun Violence Solutions.
Illinois and Iowa, which border Missouri, rank 33rd and 35th for gun death rates, according to the data.
During the 2026 legislative session, Sen. Barbara Washington, D-St. Louis, sponsored Senate Bill 1171, making unsafe firearm storage a Class C felony in Missouri. Washington’s bill never reached the Senate floor.
Rep. John Black, R-Marshfield, sponsored House Bill 2763 last session, which would have provided permanent funding for Missouri crisis services, such as 988, the state’s suicide and crisis lifeline. HB 2763 received support from the American Federation for Suicide Prevention and other representatives, like Gregg Bush.
Missouri state Rep. Gregg Bush, D-Columbia, said dwindling mental health resources in the state have made it more important to reach out to loved ones.
“Sometimes the people that need the most help are the ones that don’t reach out... so we have to do the work to keep our friends and family safe,” Bush said.
Advocates like Lauren Ross, Missouri Chapter Board and Advocacy chair with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, stressed that firearm safety is there to put something between the thought and the action.
“The goal behind safe firearm storage isn’t to take the firearms away; it is to put time and distance between the thought and the actual lethal means themselves,” Ross said.
A fatal gap
Without a statewide policy, some Missouri organizations have stepped up to help.
The Columbia Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention will host its annual Out of the Darkness Walk on Oct. 25. All funds from the walk support advocacy, education and research efforts for communities across Missouri.
Anyone who is struggling can reach out to any AFSP chapter leader across the nation, who can also help provide a gun safety lock. Gun locks are threaded through a firearm to prevent it from being loaded or fired until the mechanism is unlocked, essentially disabling the gun.
Another accessible option for gun locks is any Veterans Hospital across Missouri.
Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans’ Hospital, located in Columbia, is one of four major Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals in Missouri. Other VA clinics are spread throughout the state, including in Sedalia, Camdenton and Jefferson City.
According to the VA’s website, gun locks are a “way to put time and space between a moment of despair and a permanent decision.”
Last school year, Columbia Public Schools officials met with representatives from the Columbia Police Department to update the student handbook with information on secure firearm storage.