Coroner's Finding: MORRIS Julia Hisae and JAST Raymond Glen

AI-generated summary

Two suicides occurred at a commercial firing range where individuals gained easy access to firearms. Julia Morris, 23, with documented borderline personality disorder and recent suicide attempt, was discharged from hospital and attended the range the same day without safety screening. Raymond Jast, 54, experiencing marital and financial crisis, also accessed firearms readily despite an instructor noting concerning behaviour. The coroner identified that neither individual held firearms licenses or club memberships, making them vulnerable to impulsive self-harm. Key preventable failures included: inadequate mental health risk assessment at the firing range, lack of physical safety barriers (tethering or ballistic glass), failure to implement mental health awareness training for range staff, and SAPOL's narrow interpretation of the Firearms Act in not issuing prohibition orders based on mental health notifications. The coroner strongly recommended mandatory physical safety devices and legislative clarification of the prohibition order regime for mental health cases. Enhanced supervision and mental health training alone were deemed insufficient.

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