MONTREAL — In what's believed to be a Canadian first, a woman is suing her ex for improperly storing a hunting rifle that their teen son used to kill himself.

Marlene Gauthier wants $250,000 after Olivier Bergevin, 19, shot himself in the head with the gun on the evening of Dec. 10, 2012, in the Montreal suburb of Laval.

"I know it won't bring him back," the emotional mother told QMI Agency. "I'm not doing this for the money, either. But it's my duty to make this situation known so that it will never happen again. I don't want Olivier to have died for nothing."

The father had custody of the teenager, who suffered from anxiety problems.

In her lawsuit filed last month, she accuses her ex of "reckless and gross negligence" for failing to store the rifle properly.

The Crown has also charged the father, Rejean Bergevin, with criminal negligence causing death and negligent storage of firearms. He faces several years in prison and refused to comment when contacted by QMI.

The mother says Bergevin had promised to keep the guns out of reach after the son had said he feared using them to commit suicide.

"Olivier's death could have easily been avoided," she said.

Canada's National Firearms Association, while opposing new gun-control laws, nonetheless stresses the importance of responsible gun ownership.

"These rules are very important. Everyone has to take responsibility," said Quebec director Claude Colgan, who lost a sister in the 1989 Polytechnique massacre.