Gun owners have long been wary of seeking help for mental health issues, including depression, largely out of concern their firearms might be taken away.

But as suicide rates continue to rise — with more than half those deaths each year involving firearms — the gun industry and a leading suicide prevention group announced this week they’re working together to address the issue.

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It’s taken more than a year of talks and of trying out pilot programs in a number of states, but the National Sports Shooting Foundation and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention have now unveiled a plan that they hope works.

Brochures highlighting the issues that put someone at greater risk for suicide; the warning signs to watch for; and advice on how to reach out to individuals showing signs of depression will go out to retailers and others in the industry. The groups also share information on ways to safely lock and store firearms. Safe and timely storage is a critical element of the plan.

Related: Guns and Suicide: Breaking the Connection

“As with most relationships, we had to get to know one another a bit. We had to see that they were serious, and I’m sure that they had to see that we were not going to be gun control activists,” Robert Gebbia, CEO of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, told the Associated Press. “We’re interested in not taking guns away, but in limiting access by those who have serious mental health problems and are at risk.”

After launching pilot programs last year in Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri and New Mexico, the partnership now plans to take the initiative nationwide.

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It’s great news, said Ed Cutler, president of Gun Owners of Vermont. But this week’s announcement was also news to him. His state along with nearly 20 others have had programs in place along the same lines for awhile now. The Vermont Gun Shop Project, which came online last year, is modeled after a New Hampshire program that began in 2009.

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Cutler told LifeZette that no matter how other states come on board, he would like to see it work — and it’s not because gun owners are more likely to be depressed or suicidal. Rather, when a gun owner decides to take his or her own life, it’s more lethal than other methods, in which there may be more time for intervention.

He said their program has already had some families call and let them know that it’s made a difference — and they’ve thanked them for saving their lives.