From Middletown: Youth firearm suicide and a Grandmother’s case for “Cooling off Period” gun policy…

From Middletown: Youth firearm suicide and a Grandmother’s case for “Cooling off Period” gun policy in Indiana

Aimee Robertson-West

Muncie, Indiana

Governor Holcomb, and the Indiana House and Senate passed legislation eliminating gun licensing requirements during this the 2022 legislative session, making it even easier for most anyone to have full legal access to the same deadly military-grade assault rifles used in mass and school shootings. Indiana’s policymakers must reconsider their own 2022 policy deregulating firearms and must instead prioritize the lives of Hoosier children.

“State Police Superintendent Doug Carter warned state legislators eliminating handgun carry permits will “risk the lives of the more than 18,000 police officers serving Hoosiers across the state.” As reported by The Guardian, Carter said of the permitless carry bill that approval of the measure, which will take effect 1 July, “does not support law enforcement, period.”.

May 28th, 2022, NPR reports:

“Youth suicide using guns is rising

*An analysis by The Trace, a newsroom focused on gun violence, found a sharp rise in firearm suicide rates among young people in their teens and 20s in the U.S. between 2011 and 2020.*

“The firearm suicide rate more than doubled among Black, Latino, and Asian teenagers, while it increased by 88 percent for Native Americans and 35 percent for white teens,” the analysis found.

*A study published last year looked at 134 cases of suicide among children between the ages of 5 and 11 in the U.S. between 2013 and 2017. Researchers found that guns were the second most common method of suicide. When guns were used, in every case where details were available, “the child obtained a firearm stored unsafely in the home,” according to the analysis.” -By Laurel Wamsley (NPR)May 28, 2022*

Youth firearm suicide and a Grandmother’s case for “Cooling off Period” gun policy in Indiana

With no red flags or warning signs, Erin Gillespie-Smith, Muncie, lost her son Dylan Stafford, a standout student and athlete, to firearm suicide at the age of 19 in 2021.

“Dylan made a spur of the moment decision and none of us had a clue he was in such a place. He had a smile on his face literally the day before- sitting with me and speaking of his future at Ball State, and with his sister Allie making Tik Toks and laughing and being silly with her. We have never owned a gun. Had he had 48 hours to think about it- we might still have him today. We will never know for sure.” Gillespie-Smith stresses that “the brain is not fully developed until the age of 26, so I personally would like to see the age of buying a gun be raised. Dylan bought the gun at a time when it wasn’t even hunting season? Why would a 19 year old be able to do so, no questions asked?

After this loss, Stafford’s grandmother Laura Joviala wrote letters to each of Indiana’s legislators. Rep. Sue Errington was the only one who responded to her.

“Dear Representatives, I want to ask you for your help in establishing a waiting (cooling off) period in Indiana for the purchase of firearms. I’d like to share my story and I’m sure you will understand why this is of such importance to me and my family.

My grandson, Dylan Stafford, was known for his work ethic, his “We before Me” approach to sports and life, his thoughtfulness toward and encouragement of his teammates. He was a wonderful student. According to his coaches, he was a singularly dedicated athlete, and they have all expressed to us not only their sense of deep loss, but also the shock of disbelief. Of course, our family’s shock and grief are enormous.

You may not be aware that Dylan acquired a shotgun with ease with no waiting period at Rural King in Muncie, thus had no time to reconsider his reactive decision or ask for help or do anything but focus on the fatal choice he had made impulsively. He then drove to Tennessee, found a secluded area, walked far from the car to a hillside and shot himself in the head. He pulled the trigger on his life and ended up hurting many others — knowingly or unknowingly — we will never know. People ask if we’d sensed any red flags. Sadly, only in retrospect; it’s hard to know where someone else’s breaking point is, and impossible to imagine they might end their life. We have learned through the stories of other survivors that his story is not especially unique, especially for young men his age.

*So, it is confounding to me, knowing the number of firearm deaths, and the overwhelming likelihood of them being impulsive, that we, as a culture, continue to resist establishing a waiting period for the purchase of a gun. Isn’t the possibility of saving even one life worth it? In 2019, there were 958 lives lost in Indiana in gun-related suicide or homicide. 61% of these are suicides. Nationally, gun suicide makes up nearly two thirds of all gun deaths.**

*Strikingly, I was stunned to read that Indiana’s rate was 3 times as high as that of New York, where I live. In district 6, where my daughter’s family lives in Muncie, there are on average, 77 firearm suicides every year. In my district in Brooklyn, the average is 10. The highest in Brooklyn is 27.* There is evidence that while waiting (cooling off) periods may not alter homicides, they do alter the number of suicides.

What part might our lost loved ones have played in the future? How many lives of parents, siblings, grandparents, friends, schoolmates and communities are forever wounded by these tragic and perhaps preventable deaths?

We will never know. Please help. Please.”

Sincerely yours,

Laura Joviala, Grandmother, Dylan Stafford

Photo: Dylan Stafford, Black Live Matter March, Muncie, Indiana, June 2020

Photo: Dylan Stafford, Senior, cheering on Muncie Central Basketball teammates, 2020

Text ACT to 644–33 to support gun reform efforts. Indiana legislators have an opportunity to respond to the growing threat of gun violence in schools and our communities by working together on legislation that makes better sense and actively protects our children from individuals who should never have access to firearms, especially assault rifles which can kill up to 23 people in one minute. Additionally, to according to the CDC, the risk of intimate partner homicide increases by 500% if there is a gun in the home.

According to data analyzed by the Washington Post, more than two-thirds of school shootings were carried out by shooters under the age of 18. One way to reduce this number, is to enact “safe storage” laws in which firearms must be locked and secured, or the owner of those firearms (parents) can face legal consequences. Another is to ban the purchase of assault style-rifles, but given Indiana’s legislators’ pattern of voting and seems unlikely, so implementing a “48 hour firearm purchase cooling off period”, conducting background checks with a citizen reporting system at the local and state level for citizens and mental health professionals to report individuals making threats and showing suicidal ideation, instilling licensing and firearm education policy (similar to obtaining a driver’s license) and raising the age to purchase assault-style rifles can reduce mass shootings and save lives.

Indiana legislators, during the 2023 legislative session, please consider enacting a 48-hour cooling off period for the purchase of guns to help prevent homicide and suicide, especially among children in Indiana.

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