MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (7News) -- Beata Stylianos wears an orange ribbon in honor of her husband Yorgos.
"We had just started a young family and we lost him unexpectedly to a gun suicide in 2012," Stylianos told 7News.
She never imagined her spouse would use one of the two firearms in their home to harm himself.
"It was a complete shock for a very long time. Very surreal. What you do is you playback, you do a complete rewind on 'What could I have done differently? What signs did I miss?'" she said.
In Montgomery County, the most recent numbers show in 2022, there were 95 deaths by suicide --- one-third of which involved a firearm.
RELATED | DC, Maryland sue 3 gun shops for allegedly selling to man convicted of gun trafficking
Across the country, the latest numbers show 54% of all gun-related deaths in the U.S. were suicides. The Suicide and Firearms Awareness Act known as SAFE passed in December in Montgomery County.
Since the law took effect on Sept. 1, gun stores must now provide information on suicide prevention, gun safety and conflict resolution when a customer purchases a firearm.
"The purpose of this law is to really give people a thought to pause, and let them reflect about what they might be doing, especially if it is to end their own life," said Montgomery County Councilman Evan Glass.
We asked Glass, who sponsored the legislation, about enforcement.
"We will have the Department of Health and Human Services monitoring but this will also be complaint-driven so if anyone goes into a gun store and they do not see this information readily available, contact the county, contact the Department of Health and Human Services and an inspector will go out to make sure it's there," Glass told 7News.
ALSO READ | Gun store owner charged with shooting at Montgomery County officer on proactive patrol
Gun shop owners who fail to comply with the new law could face a civil citation.
7News visited two gun stores on Monday to talk to business owners and see if they were distributing suicide prevention and gun safety information. Both of the stores were closed.
Stylianos now works with Everytown for Gun Safetyto help end gun violence.
7News asked her if the new law goes far enough in its attempt to reduce gun suicides and improve safety.
"I think it's a very good first step, and everyone has to be on board too," she said.