Fellow Advocate,

Last week, I shared the latest installment of our Deadly by Design storytelling project, where Abby described her pain at her father’s preventable murder during a middle school dance in Edinboro, PA.[1] Now, on this final day of National Suicide Awareness Month, we’re uplifting stories of Pennsylvanians who have lost loved ones to firearm suicide – which accounted for 60% of gun deaths across the Commonwealth last year.[2]

Edie Khoury lost her husband, Micky, and her brother-in-law, Mark, to gun suicide in separate incidents. They were both military veterans who knew how to handle firearms. And like many veterans, they both struggled with mental health and thoughts of suicide. But neither of them owned a gun themselves.

Unfortunately, the gun owners around them were not responsible and did not securely store their weapons. This allowed Micky and Mark – in a moment of crisis – to seek a permanent “solution” to a temporary problem. They were able to easily access those weapons and take their own lives.

Watch Edie tell Micky’s & Mark’s story here – then share it: [link removed]

Stories like Micky’s and Mark’s are often absent from conversations about gun violence prevention. The veil of shame and loneliness surrounding suicide keeps us from facing facts: suicide is the most prolific form of gun violence in Pennsylvania. Will you watch and share this video to help others understand that gun suicide is gun violence and that policies like safe storage are shown to save lives?

The difficult truth is Micky and Mark could be me, you, or any one of us – all it takes is a crisis that feels overwhelming and the means to easily end your suffering.

Micky and Mark deserve to have their crises – momentary as they were – understood and taken seriously. We all do.

SHARE MICKY'S & MARK'S STORIES: [link removed]

Standing with you,

Adam Garber
Executive Director
CeaseFirePA Education Fund

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CeaseFirePA
P.O. Box 60095
Philadelphia, PA 19102
United States
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