“My dad was an essential part of my childhood, most dads are, but my dad, he was something else. He was the kind of person who would answer your simple, yes-or-no question with a 45-minute tangent, with philosophical reasoning behind each aspect of the inquiry, making you skeptical of everything. 

He would use visual aids whenever possible. Every time, you regretted you’d ever asked in the first place, and often forgot your original question! But you always walked away with a little more knowledge than you had before, amazed at how he knew so much about absolutely everything. My dad was an essential part of my childhood. He’s the reason I’m the person I am today. 

I was robbed of my childhood on September 25, 2009, when my father took his life. Sitting in his car, surrounded by police, my father shot himself with his legally-purchased handgun. In early 2009, he made two previous suicide attempts using a combination of medication and alcohol. Both times, he survived and began receiving help. But recovery is not linear, and when he slipped and struggled, unfortunately most, he had access to his gun.

If Extreme Risk Protection Orders -- ERPOs -- had been around in Florida in 2009, my mom would have been able to temporarily turn in my dad’s gun until his crisis period passed. It would have passed. It had before. He would have been able to continue therapy, and possibly gotten better. Maybe, maybe not, but that opportunity ended with the immediate access to a firearm.

Since then, 17 states -- including Florida -- have enacted ERPO legislation. Which means, if someone is deemed at risk, if for whatever reason a family member is concerned – suicide, violence, drug addiction, mental health – if someone is feeling threatened, if there are red flags and friends know there is a gun available at home, a temporary restraining order to the firearm can be enacted. Temporarily. Until the crisis is averted. This can and will save lives. 

It didn’t exist for my dad, but I sure wish it did. He would have explained ERPO far better, and far longer than me, most likely with props, explaining the vast benefits of laws like this, but he’s not here to do so. I miss my Dad. He was an essential part of my childhood. He’s the reason I am the person I am today. I am trying dad. I really am, and we are making progress. 

But we still have a long way to go. I will not stop fighting until we have ERPOs in all 50 states. I refuse to keep seeing stories like mine. My dad deserved better.  We all deserve better.”

-Julia Spoor, Pennsylvania