The Storing Ammunition and Firearms to Enhance Resilience Together (SAFER) Program is live in Alabama.
Just two months after Gov. Kay Ivey signed Senate Bill 40 (SB 40), sponsored by State Sen. Keith Kelley (R-Anniston) and State Rep. Russell Bedsole (R-Alabaster), into law on April 7 advocates for the program held an official launch event welcoming the second store in the state into the program, the first in the Birmingham metro area. The goal is to promote voluntary and temporary firearm storage to reduce suicide rates for residents.
According to the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs, the launch event at Redland Rifle Company in Hoover, "marks a significant milestone as Redland Rifle becomes the first gun shop in Birmingham to participate in the SAFER Together initiative — an effort aimed at reducing veteran suicide through education, collaboration, and responsible firearm practices." SAFER Together has also partnered with Walter Craig's The Sportsman's Headquarters in Montgomery.
"The law is tabbed the Houston Hunter Act, named after Army veteran Houston Tumlin and Marine veteran Hunter Whitley, who both lost their lives to suicide. It is also one of three preliminary recommendations from the Alabama Veterans Mental Health Steering Committee. Houston's mother, Michelle, and Hunter's mother, Shannon, were present as the bill was signed," Ivey's office said in a release announcing she signed the bill into law.
"Safety and security for veterans is one of my top priorities, just as they have protected and taken care of us," Ivey said at the time. "SB40 paves the way for Alabama to continue being the number one state for veteran care, quality of life and ensuring that veterans are equipped with the best mental health resources."
The process of the program was described in a recent press release by the Department of Veterans Affairs as follows:
SAFER Together consists of three steps. The first involves any MVFR firearm owner visiting a participating FFL during normal business hours and informing an employee they would like to participate in the SAFER Together program. The MVFR will then complete a confidential hold harmless agreement with the FFL. Once the confidential agreement is complete, the employee will escort the MFVR to an individual safe (provided by the program) on their premises. Finally, the firearm owner will personally secure their firearm(s) and/or ammunition in the safe. (In this scenario — under the ATF & DOJ guidance — a FFL will not "receive" or "acquire" the firearm into its inventory, nor will the FFL assume control of the individual's firearm. To the contrary, only the MVFR firearm owner has the ability to open the safe and retrieve the firearm. Because the FFL has not "received" a firearm into its inventory, the FFL will not record the firearm as an acquisition in its acquisition and disposition ('A&D') records and will not, upon retrieval of the firearm by the individual, execute a Firearms Transaction Record, Form 4473 or conduct a National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) background check.)
Second, the MVFR will receive a SAFER Together one-pager that provides a snapshot of the Peer Support Specialists available through this coalition and some local resources available for support. Every MVFR will be given the option to request free and confidential Peer Support services through this program. If the MVFR is willing to be connected to a Peer Support specialist, the FFL will notify the SAFER Peer Support Team. From here, the support and healing begins.
Lastly, once the MVFR feels the high-risk transitional event has passed and they have support they need, they can return to the FFL and retrieve their firearms and/or ammunition during regular business hours without question.
More information for veteran suicide prevention resources in Alabama is listed on www.vetsforhope.com or call the national suicide and crisis hotline at 988.
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