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Sen. Tobin introduces SB 206 to fund firearm safe‑storage and parental notification for suicide risk; committee sets bill aside
Summary
SB 206 would create a firearms safe‑storage grant fund at the Department of Public Safety, allow school districts to adopt optional parental notification plans when students show suicide ideation, and authorize schools to provide storage devices; sponsor and invited witnesses urged action and the committee set the bill aside for a future committee substitute and public testimony.
Juneau — Sponsor Sen. Lukey Tobin introduced Senate Bill 206 on Feb. 10, proposing a firearms safe‑storage grant fund administered by the Department of Public Safety, optional school district parental‑notification plans for suicide ideation and harassment, and authorization for districts to provide safe‑storage devices to families.
"The bill before you does something very simple. It gives time," Tobin said, framing the bill around research that many young people who think about harming themselves act within minutes. "There is research that shows that 80 percent of young people who think about harming themselves attempt to harm themselves in less than 10 minutes. What we want to do is disrupt that 10 minutes and we want to save their lives."
Staff presented slides showing Alaska's high age‑adjusted suicide rate (about 30.8 per 100,000) and regional variation in safe‑storage prevalence; the Northwest Public Health Region was cited as having roughly 94 percent safe storage among households in that area. Louis Flora, staff to Senator Tobin, explained the bill's sections and said the sponsor intends to refine details in a future committee substitute, including how devices are requested and distributed (school stock, district request to DPS, parent request, or donations).
The bill's sectional analysis would: require reporting harassment/bullying incidents to child advocacy centers (referencing AS 47 provisions); allow (but not require) districts to adopt parental notification plans that also provide suicide prevention resources and information about limiting access to lethal means; authorize the Suicide Prevention Council to advise districts on materials; and establish a firearms safe‑storage grant fund (AS 44) to buy and distribute lockboxes, safes or cable locks at no cost to districts.
James Biella, co‑founder of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Alaska chapter and an itinerant school social worker in Bethel, testified in support and described rural cases in which easy access to firearms and lack of immediate local law enforcement have turned crises fatal. "In those moments, access matters and time matters as well," Biella said.
Senators questioned whether the bill could materially raise safe‑storage rates given already‑high reported storage by households with children (a figure in the packet showed 89 percent), and the sponsor replied that regional variation and the need for timely notification during crisis motivated the bill.
The committee took no vote; Chair Dunbar said the bill will be set aside for future consideration with a committee substitute and public testimony scheduled at a later date.
