# An Evaluation of the Gun Shop Project: Suicide Prevention Led by the Firearms Community

> **NIH ALLCDC R01** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO · 2021 · $649,969

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
 This study examines the implementation and impact of Gun Shop Projects (GSPs).
GSPs are community-driven suicide prevention partnerships between the firearms community
(retailers, ranges, and other businesses) and local public or community health agencies aimed
at temporarily reducing access to firearms during times of crisis. Suicide rates have increased
by 35% over the last two decades and over half are caused by firearms. An estimated one-third
of households has a firearm in the home and firearm access is a key risk for suicide. While we
know reducing access to lethal means can be effective in reducing suicide, we must ensure
these practices reach the most vulnerable group, firearm owners. GSPs reach this population
through partnership with and intentional messaging from the firearms community itself.
 Although GSPs are widely implemented in the U.S., implementation has occurred
without rigorous process or outcome evaluations. The field also lacks an understanding of
effective implementation practices of GSPs and clarity on the mechanisms by which GSPs work
to impact firearm safety behaviors and suicides involving firearms. This study is designed to
address these gaps by (1) identifying the implementation core components of GSPs; (2)
examining the mechanisms for firearm safety behavior change; and (3) understanding the
impact GSPs may have on suicide outcomes.
 To address these aims, the study includes three research objectives: (1) conduct an
implementation process evaluation to understand variation in model adherence and to identify
the GSP implementation core components; (2) Use a one group pre-test post-test design and a
before and after intervention quasi-experimental design to evaluate the impact of the Colorado
GSP on knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors favorable to firearm safety and suicide
prevention; and (3) use a difference in differences quasi-experimental design to examine the
effects of GSP implementation and duration on suicide in counties.
 We have convened a multi-disciplinary and community-focused team of experts on
population health approaches to firearm injury and violence prevention, including the University
of Colorado’s Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence and School of Medicine, the
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the National Shooting Sports
Foundation, and Colorado firearms community representatives. Study results will advance
scientific knowledge on involving the firearms community in suicide prevention efforts as a way
to optimize implementation of community-level means reduction and safe storage strategies.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10268948
- **Project number:** 5R01CE003289-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO
- **Principal Investigator:** Sabrina Arredondo Mattson
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** ALLCDC
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $649,969
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-09-30 → 2023-09-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10268948

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10268948, An Evaluation of the Gun Shop Project: Suicide Prevention Led by the Firearms Community (5R01CE003289-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10268948. Licensed CC0.

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