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A bill establishing firearm hold agreements between individuals and federal firearm licensees or law enforcement officers is set for a vote in the House.
The bill has been dubbed the Houston Hunter Act, named after veterans Houston Tumlin and Hunter Whitley who lost their lives to suicide.
SB40, introduced by Sen. Keith Kelley, R-Anniston, would create a program, the Storing Ammunition and Firearms to Enhance Resilience Together Program, an initiative promoting secure firearm and ammunition storage to reduce suicide risk.
The bill is one of the three preliminary recommendations from the Alabama Veterans Mental Health Steering Committee, and Kelley volunteered to carry it in the Senate. Rep. Russell Bedsole, R-Alabaster, is carrying a companion bill, which is pending in the Senate Judiciary committee.
The main challenge for businesses offering gun storage is liability. The Houston Hunter Bill addresses this issue by providing legal protection to gun stores, allowing them to install safes where veterans can temporarily store their firearms as needed.
The text also provides for civil immunity for anyone who enters into these agreements for “any act or omission arising from a firearm hold agreement which results in personal injury or death of any individual,” which includes returning a firearm to the firearm owner at the end of a firearm hold agreement.
Jason Smith, suicide prevention coordinator for the Alabama National Guard and member of the Veterans Mental Health Steering Committee, spoke in front of the Senate County and Municipal Government Committee in February about the need for this bill.
“The reason for this is the way we’ve lost, in 2022, 85 percent of our veterans was by use of a firearm. We do not have a gun safe storage program in the state of Alabama. This program is designed to be confidential, voluntary, temporary and also to protect our Second Amendment rights so it’s not infringed on while we go seek mental health care,” said Smith.
In 2021, Alabama’s veteran suicide rate stood at 35.4 per 100,000 people, surpassing the national average of 33.9, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. This rate was also significantly higher than Alabama’s overall suicide rate of 20.2 per 100,000. Additionally, firearms were involved in approximately 85 percent of veteran suicides that year.
