Samantha McCandless, community engagement and partnership coordinator for VA Butler Healthcare, distributes free gun locks Wednesday at Butler SUCCEED on Main Street. Steven Dalton/Special to the Eagle

Gun locks were handed out Wednesday by Samantha McCandless, community engagement and partnership coordinator for VA Butler Healthcare, at Butler SUCCEED on Main Street. Steven Dalton/Special to the Eagle

VA Butler Healthcare distributed six gun locks to people Wednesday, Nov. 22, at an event at Butler SUCCEED.

Samantha McCandless, community engagement and partnership coordinator for VA Butler Healthcare, said the gun locks are meant to be a barrier to suicide by firearm, a method which accounts for about 70% of veteran suicides.

Although the gun locks are provided by the Butler VA, McCandless said she gives them to anyone, regardless of their veteran status, because they can be used by anyone, or they can help get a gun lock to a person in need.

“Having suicidal thoughts, it's not what I'd call an aspect of mental illness. We all have thoughts, some are darker than others,” McCandless said. “My hope is that community members, when they need gun locks, they have them.”