This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A bill aimed at providing suicide-prevention education to gun-shop employees cleared a committee on Monday.
The House Business and Labor committee unanimously sent HB477 to the full House. The bill sponsored by Steve Eliason, R-Sandy, would provide training on how to recognize signs of a consumer who may be looking to buy a gun to end his or her life.
The course would be optional for the store and the establishment could apply for grant so they could pay employees to attend the training. It would also provide gun-safety brochures that gun stores could hand out, including tips about keeping firearms out of the hands of someone suffering depression. A board overseeing the training would have representatives from the gun lobby and the Utah Department of Health.
Jade Lubeck told the panel her sister walked into a gun store, purchased a firearm and took her own life. Had HB477 been in place, it may have prevented the death, she said.
A study from 2009-2013 showed that 87 percent of gun deaths in Utah were suicides.
Among bill supporters was gun-rights advocate Clark Aposhian, who said he wants reduce the suicides in Utah, ranked No. 7 in the nation in suicides.
Eliason said it was small step in curtailing the suicide problem in the state but a necessary one.
"This is a public health crisis," he said. "We play a role in public health matters."