Thursday, October 1, 2026
Editor's note: This news report includes references to suicide. For immediate support, individuals in crisis can dial or text 988 or go to 988lifeline.org. For local assistance in Thurston County, contact the 24/7 Thurston-Mason Crisis Line at 800-270-0041.
Responding to firearm mortality counts, youth injury data, and confirmed storage gaps, the Thurston County Board of Health (BOH) issued a proclamation on Tuesday, June 10, declaring June 2025 as Gun Violence Awareness Month during its regular monthly meeting.
The proclamation cites five years of gun-related fatality statistics from the Washington State Department of Health, listing 4,677 deaths statewide between 2019 and 2023. It confirmed suicide by firearm accounted for the majority of the deaths, exceeding half of all recorded cases.
In the same period, gun-related emergency care for people ages 0 to 24 made up one-third of all firearm injury visits. Overlapping survey results from Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) revealed firearm owners reported a 45% storage compliance rate.
As noted in the proclamation, the county charts firearm containment through a standard of “unloaded and locked” storage. It treats the threshold as necessary to deter household access, impede loss through theft, and make gun locking a usual part of routine public safety practices.
The “Lock It Up” program materializes the threshold and applies the county’s public safety language by distributing storage equipment, such as cable locks, trigger locks, lock boxes and gun vaults directly into households and personal vehicles identified through outreach mapping and injury surveillance.
Originating in King County in the late 1990s, shaped in Seattle’s regional response system, and now adapted for Thurston County, the program routes its inventory through the Parent Child Health Division under Public Health and Social Services (PHSS).
Locking devices vary by firearm type, but most are made to block the chamber, the trigger or the whole gun. These devices are issued by PHSS without requirement for purchase history, incident report or registration.
Trigger locks snap over the trigger to stop it from being pulled. Cable locks run through the barrel to block loading. Lock boxes enclose handguns inside a locked case with a key or code. Safes and vaults hold bigger firearms and can be bolted down in homes or vehicles.
In order to enact the proclamation’s guidance, Raymona Smiedala, Thurston County’s Mental Health Education and Outreach Specialist, confirmed an active distribution effort.
“We are trying to educate people about safe storage for gun locks and other devices, and we are actually giving them out,” Smiedala said.
She said the program works not only to circulate physical devices, but also to reshape norms around gun handling and storage within homes.
Lock It Up targets four main reasons for using storage devices: “prevent children from finding and using your gun,” “prevent your gun from being stolen,” “prevent people from dying by suicide in a moment of crisis,” and “prevent guns from going to school.” Devices are meant to delay or physically block discharge, ammunition entry or removal from secure spaces.
“We’re really just trying to get more safety devices out there for community members who maybe can’t afford them,” said Smiedala said, adding many of the recipients come from lower-income brackets and often cite price as a reason for not owning a lock.
Thurston Gun Sense, a volunteer group formed in 2015, contributes to the work by handling distribution to widen public access to locking tools countywide.
Chapter Lead Dr. Edward Humble said the organization’s strategy revolves around reaching communities where gun ownership rates are known to be high. He said the group’s approach includes appearing at large public gatherings.
“We’ve gone now for three years to the Oregon Trail Days in Tenino. … We’re going to Rainier this year as well” said Humble in describing how the group expands coverage into rural zones where gun use is more common.
He added, “People there have them for very legal reasons. We’re not trying to deal with anything. We’re trying to say, if you have them, let’s lock 'em up , and let’s keep them away from kids.”
Humble then said Thurston Gun Sense’s distribution system relies on volume, consistency and face-to-face engagement.
“We ask people questions before we gave it to them, because I don’t want to see it on eBay the next week,” said Humble in explaining the group's guidelines favor recipients with intention to use the equipment.
In recent years, Thurston Gun Sense expanded its supply of storage devices by coordinating with law enforcement agencies in the county.
Humble said police departments and the sheriff’s office began contributing extra cable locks and portable safes from their own injury prevention programs. He mentioned the pooling system allowed volunteers to reach more sites, especially rural areas where private gun ownership is more common and services are fewer.
Among the devices now in regular use are tetherable gun safes (compact steel containers) that can be locked shut, and then secured to another fixed object.
Unlike basic trigger or cable locks, the safes store the full weapon and can be “bolted down” or clamped with cables to walls, floors or vehicle frames. The dual containment feature, one to lock the firearm, the other to lock the box, was emphasized by Humble as vital in theft prevention and travel settings.
Humble said Thurston Gun Sense presents firearm safety through the lens of youth suicide data. The group frequently points to federal statistics showing firearms as the primary driver of death among children, with suicide making up a significant share.
Meanwhile, in extending the concern to emergency medicine, BOH member Perla Newton supported the urgency behind the proclamation. She brought clinical insights from over a decade in emergency care and recalled how gun injuries are rarely accidental and often leave “lifelong” impacts on youth patients, regardless of survival.
The Thurston County Board of County Commissioners and fellow BOH members backed the proclamation’s direction as a public safety intervention effort meant to reduce household risk and youth exposure.
The proclamation also calls on residents to participate in local observances and amplify firearm security as a baseline safety norm.
“Together, we can raise awareness and take meaningful steps toward ending gun violence … (Thurston County Board of Health) urges residents to honor the lives of those lost through participation in community service and remembrance ceremonies, as well as encouraging others to securely store their firearms to prevent unauthorized access and reduce future injuries,” the proclamation states.
The Lock It Up program distributes both safety equipment and educational materials at no cost. According to the program’s official description, the devices are matched to the household based on type of firearm, user profile and storage environment.
The PHSS also provides supplemental materials on suicide prevention, youth mental health referrals, and contact instructions for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
For locking tools or educational resources, residents may call (360) 867-2500 or email PHSS_mentalhealth@co.thurston.wa.us.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here