Sept. 1–7 marks Gun Storage Check Week^®, a reminder for firearm owners to take a few moments to review their secure storage practices and “Make Sure It’s Secure^®.”

The September observance coincides with National Suicide Prevention Month, highlighting the role secure firearm storage can play in preventing unauthorized access, accidents, theft, misuse and suicide.

Secure storage isn’t something to consider only when you first bring a firearm home. Households change. Children get older and more curious. Grandchildren visit. Living arrangements change. The firearms you own and how you use them may change, too.

Gun Storage Check Week is a good time to make sure the storage practices that worked for you in the past still meet your needs today.

Here are five ways to participate.

1. Check How Your Firearms Are Stored

Start with the purpose of the week: Do a storage check.

Firearms that are not in use should be secured from children and other unauthorized individuals. Simply hiding a firearm in a closet, drawer, under a bed or elsewhere in the home is not secure storage.

Take a few minutes to inspect your current storage setup. Check your safe, lock box, cable locks or other locking devices to make sure they’re functioning properly and being used as intended.

If you’ve added firearms since your last check, consider whether your current storage setup still accommodates them securely.

2. Ask What Has Changed in Your Household

A secure storage solution should fit your household and lifestyle—and both can change over time.

Think about what’s different since you last reviewed your storage practices. Are your children older and more curious? Do grandchildren visit your home? Do adult children come home during holidays? Has someone moved into your household? Are you now living in a shared space?

Changes like these can affect who may have access to areas of your home and whether your current storage practices are still appropriate.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for firearm storage. Gun Storage Check Week is an opportunity to make sure yours still works for you.

3. Review Your Secure Storage Options

Firearm owners have a variety of secure storage options to choose from depending on their firearms, household and lifestyle.

Options include cable locks, lock boxes, electronic lock boxes, gun cases, full-size gun safes and other locking devices designed to prevent unauthorized access.

GunStorageCheck.org provides information about different secure storage devices to help firearm owners understand their options and determine which solutions best fit their needs.

Cable locks are commonly available through Project ChildSafe^®, NSSF’s nationwide firearm safety program, and its law enforcement partners.

4. Remember the Importance of “Time and Distance”

The September observance of Gun Storage Check Week coincides with National Suicide Prevention Month for an important reason.

More than half of all firearm fatalities are suicide deaths. Securely storing firearms when they are not in use can create “time and distance” between a person experiencing a suicidal crisis and a lethal means.

That pause can allow immediate suicidal thoughts to pass and give someone in crisis an opportunity to seek support or for another person to intervene.

NSSF^® works with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide firearm owners, retailers, ranges and communities with resources to help prevent firearm suicide.

Resources for veterans are available at VA REACH. An NSSF-AFSP suicide prevention toolkit is freely available to firearm retailers and shooting ranges.

Remember 988. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, call, text or chat 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

5. Check Your Storage Practices Away From Home

Your storage check shouldn’t stop at your front door.

Firearm owners should also consider how firearms are secured while traveling or when they must be temporarily stored in a vehicle.

If you must leave a firearm unattended in a vehicle, take steps to secure it against theft and unauthorized access and keep it out of sight. A locked vehicle alone should not be considered adequate firearm storage.

Whether you’re heading to the range or traveling with a firearm, planning ahead can help ensure you have an appropriate secure storage option when you need one.

Make the Check a Habit

Gun Storage Check Week was established by NSSF in 2024 and is observed twice each year: June 1–7, coinciding with National Safety Month, and Sept. 1–7, during National Suicide Prevention Month.

But secure firearm storage is a year-round responsibility.

As your household, lifestyle and firearm use change, periodically take a few minutes to review how your firearms are stored and determine whether your current approach still meets your needs.

Visit GunStorageCheck.org for information about secure storage options, home and vehicle safety, suicide prevention, resources for veterans and additional firearm safety programs.

Engage With Safety Content, Enter Sweepstakes

Beginning Sept. 1, visitors to GunStorageCheck.org during Gun Storage Check Week can enter a sweepstakes to win a Lodestar Technology LNK9 Kit — a user-authorized 9mm firearm. The LNK9 features optional biometric fingerprint or PIN access, incorporated directly into the firearm to create an additional safeguard that complements secure firearm storage and safe handling.