When I was young, I liked to talk with my father about World War II. He was a lieutenant in the Army, served in Europe, and was responsible for dispatching trucks of food, clothing, supplies, and ammunition to the front. He was always a few miles from the heaviest fighting; still, artillery thundered in the sky and mortar shells burst around him.
I never told my father that I knew where he kept the gun. I never told him or anyone else how I fingered it and pretended to shoot someone-a burglar perhaps. When I put it back I was careful to leave everything exactly as I found it.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, guns are the leading cause of death for children and teens. According to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, nearly 40 percent of youth suicides involve a gun.
When I was executive director of a busy, 24-hour crisis center, anytime people called our suicide hotline-a family member, teacher, coworker, or friend-worried to talk about a young person contemplating suicide, the discussion about firearms often arose.
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