The Prince George’s County Council’s health, human services and public safety committee discussed a bill Thursday that would require four gun storefronts and various shooting ranges to display and present gun safety information after gun or ammunition purchases.

The information, such as handouts and signs, would focus on suicide prevention, firearm training, conflict resolution and mental health resources. It would provide resources such as the suicide prevention hotline on a one-page document, produced and distributed by the county health department.

District 7 council member Krystal Oriadha, the bill’s sponsor, believes the information would be an intervention point for individuals with mental health issues looking to harm themselves or others.

“This is a simple thing that we can do,” Oriadha said during the council meeting. “It’s legislation to save people’s lives.”

The legislation will look to supplement state laws in an effort to prevent people from using newly purchased firearms to harm themselves, county policy analyst David Noto said at the committee meeting. Oriadha also hopes the bill supports people with mental health issues at gun stores or ranges.

The council passed amendments Thursday that added shooting ranges as a location where the information could be displayed.

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Another amendment renamed the bill to “The Grant Coffield Law” in an effort to honor a 21-year-old man who died by suicide at a Maryland gun range on Aug. 24, 2019. Oriadha implored her colleagues to accept the name change to honor Grant Coffield’s family.

Pamela Coffield, Grant Coffield’s mother and a Prince George’s County Public Schools first-grade teacher, said she hopes the bill will strengthen suicide prevention and awareness of mental health issues.

Pamela Coffield wore blue at the committee meeting — the color she said represents parents who have lost their child to suicide.

“If it can help somebody else, we would greatly appreciate it,” Pamela Coffield said. “I don’t want anyone else to have to go through what we’re going through.”

District 2 council member Wanika Fisher, the committee’s chair, thanked Pamela Coffield and her husband for sharing their story.

“Your story will help many stories that are out there and souls out there,” Fisher said.

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The proposed bill was modeled after the Suicide Awareness and Firearm Education Act, which passed in Anne Arundel and Montgomery counties and faced scrutiny from gun rights organization Maryland Shall Issue and some gun shop owners. The law’s critics said the county forced them to enact speech that didn’t reflect their beliefs.

In a January appellate court decision, a judge affirmed the county law. The decision said the gun safety information does not discourage the reader from purchasing the firearm, the Associated Press reported in January.

“I don’t see this as a very controversial piece of legislation,” Oriadha told The Diamondback. “I look at it as something common sense and easy that we can do that can mean the difference between life and death.”

The committee favorably recommended the bill with three new amendments to the full county council, which will consider the initiative on Wednesday.