The nation recently memorialized the anniversary of the terrible tragedy at Sandy Hook. On that day 26 students and teachers lost their lives, and our nation has since been embroiled in debate, reflection and new policy-making around gun violence.

The nation recently memorialized the anniversary of the terrible tragedy at Sandy Hook. On that day 26 students and teachers lost their lives, and our nation has since been embroiled in debate, reflection and new policy-making around gun violence.

The heated debate has focused on background checks, criminal penalties, armed school personnel, lock-down procedures, access to assault rifles and high capacity magazines – measures primarily aimed at preventing another Newtown tragedy.

Certainly, while we must take steps and enact policies to ensure that a tragedy like Newtown does not happen again, we must also not forget that thousands of other gun related tragedies occur every single week. Just as we have an obligation to the victims of Newtown and their families, we have an obligation to every victim of gun violence, and to their survivors.

In 2010, across the nation, there were over 30,000 lives lost to firearms violence. It surprises many people to learn, however, that only one third of those deaths resulted from violent crime or mass shooting events. Most of the remainder – 19,392 individual and preventable tragedies – were lives lost to suicide. The same pattern holds true in Massachusetts, where firearms suicides have outpaced firearms homicides in four of the last six years.

In the coming weeks, I will be working with a group of my House and Senate colleagues to ensure that if and when a firearms violence bill is introduced, we address not only the most visible forms of violence, i.e. mass shootings and homicides, but also the most prevalent – suicide.

John F. Keenan represents Abington, Braintree, Holbrook, Quincy and Rockland in the Massachusetts Senate.To effectively address the issue of suicides by gun, we need to overcome certain misconceptions about suicide. For instance, too many people believe that a person who intends to commit suicide will find a way to do so, no matter what. "Take away the gun," they argue, "and the person will just find another way."

However, other means of suicide are less sudden and less deadly than a gun, and studies show that those who attempt suicide but live through the attempt, often because they choose a less lethal method than a gun, are unlikely to try a second time. With some support, they can return to stable and productive lives.

Also, without immediate or easy access to a gun, the time necessary to plan and carry out a suicide attempt often results in the person rethinking the attempt, and affords the opportunity to seek help. Quite simply, remove the gun at the point of suicidal thought, and you are more likely to prevent the suicide.

With this understanding, we can do more. We can take a closer look at the real risks involved with guns in homes, and with gun ownership in general. We can educate citizens on safe and effective practices to reduce those risks, without infringing on their 2nd amendment rights to choose to own weapons. We can engage our medical community and better equip our schools to address this critical area of gun violence. We can task our regulatory agencies to collect and analyze the critical data that will further develop our understanding of this neglected topic.

Suicide remains the forgotten story of firearms violence. Massachusetts can begin to tell that story, with an earnest policy debate that recognizes even those tragedies that do not make headlines.

I hope that in this, as we have in so many other areas throughout the years, our Commonwealth can lead the nation towards smarter and more effective policy decisions.