Donna’s Law: Preventing Suicide through the Voluntary Firearms Purchase Delay Act

Donna’s Law is named for Donna Nathan of New Orleans, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 2018 after a series of voluntary inpatient mental health stays to manage her bipolar disorder. Her family strongly believes that greater barriers to purchasing a firearm, including self-imposed purchase restrictions, might have saved Donna’s life.

While many laws look to reduce access to guns to prevent violence and suicide, Donna’s Law takes a unique approach in that it promotes a voluntary self-registry for those who feel they may be at risk for suicide by firearm. An individual who wants to implement this self-defense mechanism against gun suicide would be allowed to put themselves on a voluntary “do not sell” list. Down the road, they could remove themselves from the list after a three-week waiting period if they wish.

The idea behind the law is that an individual can choose to put themselves on a “do not sell” list whenever they feel it is necessary—for example, after a job loss, when managing substance use disorder, or when battling mental health challenges.  In short -- anytime an individual feels like they might be at risk for taking their own life, they are removing lethal means themselves rather than someone having to do it for them. If this safeguard is in place, and they attempt to purchase a firearm, the purchase would be declined.

Firearm suicides continue to be an enormous problem across the U.S. Donna’s Law was recently featured on the CBS Morning Show and, according to Professor Mike Anestis, who runs the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center at Rutgers School of Public Health, guns are the main cause of suicide deaths.  “More than half of all suicide deaths in any given year are caused by self-inflicted gunshot wounds. That’s somewhere in the vicinity of 25,000 firearm suicide deaths in the U.S. every single year.” In addition, the majority of all firearm deaths in the U.S. are suicides. “Suicide accounts for anywhere from 60% to 65% of all gun deaths in the U.S. in any given year,” Anestis indicated.

Donna’s Law is stalled at the Federal level, but it has been passed in three states—Washington, Utah, and Virginia—and Maryland recently held hearings on it.

Other states are implementing creative ways to help prevent suicides by firearms, including Wisconsin. There, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, nearly 40 gun shops participate in the suicide prevention education effort known as the “Gun Shop Project,” which educates gun store employees on signs of suicidal intentions. Many stores will also take guns in on a temporary basis through the “Safe Storage Initiative” if someone wants to get guns out of their home for any reason. These programs are part of a movement to address firearm suicides that started in New Hampshire and has spread to 20 states.

Now, over five years after Donna Nathan’s death, her family hopes that Donna’s Law will help save other lives. To learn more about Donna’s Law and related suicide prevention initiatives, visit the Donna’s Law website.