In Maryland, firearm suicide rates in rural counties are more than double that of our cities. Last year, my colleagues and I published data demonstrating how the suicide rates are higher in Maryland’s rural areas compared to urban areas due largely to firearms. While in the cities we have handguns, in rural areas, the firearms available are long guns, which are currently very easy to attain for any purpose. Long guns are most prevalent in rural areas because they are the firearms of choice for hunters, as they were for Ernest Hemingway, who used one in his own suicide. He had just begun treatment for his depression, which was never completed because when the suicidal impulse struck, Hemingway had easy access to his shotgun.