About Us

Why SAFE Exists

Suicide is the leading cause of firearm-related deaths in the United States. Yet most firearms education focuses exclusively on unintentional injuries and violent crime. This leaves a large and urgent part of the conversation neglected—not because instructors don’t care, but because they have not been given practical tools to help students, answer questions, or recognize when someone may be at risk.

Instructors are passionate about safety, but safety goes beyond muzzle direction and trigger discipline. It includes the emotional and psychological realities that affect students, families, and communities.

SAFE empowers instructors to approach these conversations respectfully, responsibly, and confidently.

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Who We Are

SAFE was founded by Isaac Chase and Edgar Antillon, experienced firearms instructors and co-founders of Guns For Everyone National. After years of teaching thousands of students, they saw a repeating pattern: instructors were being pressured into teaching mental health topics, often by organizations or regulators, without receiving any relevant training themselves.

Many instructors expressed fear, discomfort, or frustration—not because they lacked compassion, but because they lacked support.

Isaac and Edgar created SAFE to fill that gap with honest, accessible, and realistic education, designed by firearms and mental health professionals for firearms professionals.

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What We Do

SAFE provides instructors with simple, actionable tools to incorporate suicide prevention into firearms training in a way that is:

• Evidence-informed

• Non-political

• Culturally competent

• Firearms-specific

• Respectful of individual rights

Our programs focus on:

• Understanding suicide risk in the context of firearms ownership

• Recognizing warning signs without pathologizing gun owners

• Communicating with empathy and humility

• Creating safe, supportive environments in firearms classes

• Providing practical storage, training, and community resources

• Knowing what to say—and how

SAFE does not replace mental health professionals, nor does it turn instructors into therapists. Instead, it equips them with the confidence to facilitate meaningful, responsible conversations within the scope of their role.

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Our Approach

SAFE is grounded in three core principles:

Respect for Gun Owners
Firearms owners are diverse, responsible adults who deserve thoughtful, non-stigmatizing education.

Respect for Instructors
We don’t ask instructors to solve problems they are not trained for. We empower them to educate within their role, not beyond it.

Respect for Reality
Suicide prevention is complicated. We focus on practical actions that fit within real classrooms, real gun ranges, and real lives.

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We’re Starting the Conversation, Not Ending It

SAFE is not an academic program built in isolation—it is a community-driven effort shaped by instructors, students, and organizations who care deeply about reducing negative outcomes with firearms and personal wellbeing.

We believe that talking about suicide can be done responsibly, without shaming, politicizing, or fear-mongering, and that firearm instructors are uniquely positioned to make a positive impact when given the proper tools.

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Our Commitment

We are committed to:

• Educating without lecturing

• Empowering without overwhelming

• Supporting without judging

• Collaborating across communities

Our goal is simple:
Help instructors save lives without compromising their integrity, their mission, or their rights.

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Join Us

SAFE is more than a program—it is a movement within the firearms community to approach suicide prevention with honesty, humility, and courage.

Whether you are an instructor, student, organization, or advocate, we invite you to be part of the conversation.

Together, we can make gun owners safer, better supported, and more connected—without sacrificing who we are.