March 3, 2026

A Community Conversation about Suicide Prevention

NSSF President and CEO Joe Bartozzi emphasizes education and the importance of secure storage of firearms at Berkshire County gathering

By Bill Brassard

Preventing suicide is a national challenge — one that NSSF^®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, is fully engaged in — yet the hard work of saving lives occurs at the community level.

Personal acts of compassion, supplemented, when necessary, by treatment are what help people get through difficult times and gain a second chance to live fulfilling lives.

On a snowy evening at the Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, Mass., last month, people touched by tragic loss joined suicide prevention advocates and the medical community to share their powerful stories and life-saving resources.

NSSF was invited to participate because of its community-focused suicide prevention and firearm safety programs like Have a Brave Conversation, Project ChildSafe^® and Gun Storage Check Week^®. NSSF President and CEO Joe Bartozzi was among the featured speakers during the evening.

Although The Bay State has a lower suicide rate than the national average, Dr. Chris Barsotti, an emergency physician and organizer of this community conversation, pointed out that in rural Berkshire County the suicide rate is 50 percent higher (17.4 per 100,000) than Massachusetts’ rate overall (8.6 per 100,000). The county’s rate is higher, too, than the national average (14 per 100,000).

“This is a hard topic and not one we often want to get together to talk about,” said Barsotti in his opening remarks at “Speak Up, Lean In: A Community Conversation about Suicide Prevention,” the session’s title.

Residents in rural areas tend to have close ties with one another — “two degrees of separation,” as Barsotti described it. That means the trauma felt by immediate family after a suicide can and often does ripple through the community at large. “There are no sidelines in this game,” said Barsotti, noting that around 51 percent of the U.S. population knows someone who has died by suicide.

Firearms are always part of these conversations because more than 50 percent of all suicide deaths yearly are the result of firearm injury. “Talking about other people’s guns is always a difficult conversation,” Barsotti said. “The focus here is on care, not policy.”

Barsotti noted that “stories of prevention where nothing happens are important because ‘nothing happens’ is the best outcome. We just don’t tend to hear about them.”

Collecting prevention narratives are part of a project Barsotti is working on with the assistance of a grant from the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. He believes gathering and sharing stories about preventing suicide can pay huge dividends to community health.

NSSF Resources

NSSF President and CEO Joe Bartozzi led off the guest speakers and emphasized NSSF’s and his personal dedication to suicide prevention. As he has done at several conferences, Bartozzi recounted that his life has been deeply affected by suicide. “These events had a profound impact on me and my family, and they will always be in my mind,” Bartozzi said.

With Bartozzi’s backing, NSSF is bringing suicide prevention education to firearm owners in collaboration with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). NSSF is helping to normalize conversations and interventions around suicide prevention and mental health in firearms media and at events like the SHOT Show^®, the NSSF-owned firearm industry trade show. In January, the SHOT Show featured the first Suicide Prevention Town Hall that included VA Secretary Doug Collins, Bartozzi and Barsotti as speakers. Additionally, three previous VA-NSSF Roundtables have inspired education initiatives, including the national “Make Sure It’s Secure^®” campaign of NSSF’s Gun Storage Check Week.

“Our hope,” said Bartozzi, “is to have people be more aware of the warning signs of suicide and to know that it’s okay to ask someone you’re concerned about if they’re having suicidal thoughts. Asking that question directly doesn’t increase the risk of suicide, and knowing the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline number and practicing secure firearm storage can save lives. This is knowledge everyone should possess.”

NSSF provides this information in many ways, including a fact sheet and its suicide prevention toolkit for firearm retailers and shooting ranges.

“Suicide is preventable,” said Bartozzi, a truth he states whenever he has the microphone. “NSSF can be the trusted voice to say that respecting the Second Amendment and protecting lives can go together.”

Barsotti stated up front that firearms are not the cause of suicide, although unsecured firearms increase risk during times of crisis. “Pain, trauma, feeling like being a burden to others, depression, hopelessness, these are the drivers,” said the emergency room doctor who sees too many patients with suicidal ideation.

Preventing someone in their most vulnerable moments from accessing a firearm by using a lockable storage device or temporarily storing guns offsite (following your state’s transfer laws) are effective means of preventing suicide. Creating “time and distance” allows for immediate thoughts of suicide to pass and making a connection to care.

Alcohol Abuse and Suicide

One of the speakers, Sean Connors, a nurse, described his decades of alcohol abuse and suicidal ideation. (Barsotti noted that an estimated 25 percent of those who die by suicide are intoxicated at the time of their death.) Connors described how early in his life a friend told him he eventually would need help because of his self-destructive lifestyle. “You don’t have to live like this, with guilt and shame. When the time comes, call me,” said the friend. Decades passed. But that friend was there when Connors desperately needed help. “What person in your life is going to be the one who says, ‘You’re at risk?’” Connors asked.

Another speaker, a 24-year-old who experienced bullying and suicidal ideation as a teenager, spoke movingly of his journey toward healing. “People are embarrassed about talking about mental health or saying the word ‘suicide,’” he said, highlighting a stigma that prevents many from seeking care.

Lindsay Morin Ciepiela of the non-profit The Brien Center cited the importance of having a safety plan and building a “wrap-around of support.”

Brian Berkel, a retired detective-lieutenant with the state police, is now president of the Berkshire Coalition for Suicide Prevention. With suicide loss survivors and volunteers, he formed the Local Outreach to Suicide Survivors (LOSS) to ensure that those who have lost a loved one to suicide receive immediate support.

“This was an important community event,” said Bartozzi. “I’m hopeful that Dr. Barsotti’s efforts and this community conversation about suicide prevention will benefit the city of Pittsfield and Berkshire County. I’m happy that NSSF was invited to participate. We are committed to doing our part to help save lives in the firearm community and beyond.”

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