Addressing gun suicide should be a top priority for the new VA secretary Chris Marvin (Ohio National Guard) As Denis McDonough takes over as President Biden’s secretary of Veterans Affairs, he will have his work cut out for him preventing this deadly crisis. Luckily, he can begin by doing one thing that Secretary Robert Wilkie –– President Trump’s appointee –– essentially refused to do during his tenure: discuss the role that guns play in veteran suicides. Wilkie purported to hold veteran suicide as a top priority, saying, “If we do not focus on [suicide prevention]…we will be doing a disservice to those veterans we care for.” But he and his VA focused solely on the (undeniably critical) mental health component of suicide, while largely refusing to discuss the weapons that make suicide attempts so deadly. In fact, he repeatedly refused to address any solution that involved guns, despite the fact that guns are the most fatal method of suicide and seven of 10 veteran suicides are by gun.