“when I see a depressed patient, suggest that, if he/she owns a gun, perhaps a friend or family member should hold it until they feel better.”
They should probably take away their ropes, knives, prescription drugs, and plastic bags. And stop them from being able to access roadways, high places or large bodies of water.
I have lost two friends to suicide by gun. In high school a friend who was only 14 used a .270 rifle under his chin on Christmas eve. That was 40 years ago and his family still bears the scars.
More recently an adult friend and father of two little girls drove to a secluded park and shot himself with a .38. Both were know to be suffering from depression or Bi-polar disorder.
Pills often don’t work, other methods are less common and may give the person a chance to back out. Pulling a trigger takes only a second and is usually fatal.
I don’t think doctors should constantly screen for depression and reporting any of your health information to the government is an invasion of privacy and a step on the road to tyranny.
However -if you have friends or family that are clinically depressed or bi-polar it is only prudent to limit their access to firearms until they are well. This is no more radical than taking the car keys from a drunk friend on a Saturday night. Friends don’t let friends drive drunk, and friends don’t leave depressed friends alone in a room with a loaded gun.