Safe Gun Storage Resources

Key findings from the abstracts are highlighted in bold, although such bolding is not in the original article.

Becher EC. Christakis NA. Firearm injury prevention counseling: are we missing the mark? Pediatrics. 104 (3 Pt 1): 530-5, 1999 Sept.

Division of Ambulatory Care and the Department of Pediatrics and Health Policy, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 10029, USA.

elise.becher@smtplink.mssm.edu

Abstract

Objective:: To determine whether pediatricians accurately estimate the likelihood of gun ownership among their patients’ families.
Design:: Self-administered, written surveys completed simultaneously by pediatricians and their patients’ parents.
Setting:: A total of 23 pediatric practices and hospital-based clinics in three cities in the United States.
Subjects:: A total of 66 pediatricians paired with 169 of their patients’ parents.
Main Outcome Measures:: Parent survey: ownership and storage of guns, willingness to admit gun ownership, and previous counseling by pediatrician. Pediatricians survey: estimated prevalence of gun ownership, likelihood of gun ownership by each participant family, and beliefs about firearm injury prevention counseling.
Results:: All parents who owned guns indicated they would acknowledge owning a gun if asked by their pediatrician. Of the participating families, 28% owned at least one gun; 39% of the homes with guns contained a gun that was unlocked, loaded, or both. Of the parents, 11% reported that their pediatrician had discussed firearm safety with them. Pediatricians’ average estimate of the overall prevalence of gun ownership in their patient populations was 25%. When asked to predict the likelihood of gun ownership by the specific families of the study, pediatricians predicted a 0% likelihood of gun ownership for 33% of the families. Of those families, 30% reported owning at least one gun. Considering physician predictions of any likelihood of gun ownership >0% (1%-100%) to be a positive prediction and using parent reports as the gold standard,physician estimates of gun ownership were only 65% sensitive. Approximately half (55%) of the participating pediatricians believed that pediatricians should discuss gun safety with all families, and 98% believed that pediatricians should discuss gun safety with all gun-owning families.
Conclusions:: Pediatricians believe that all families with guns should receive firearm safety counseling. However, pediatricians significantly underestimate the likelihood of gun ownership by specific families. Parents who own guns indicate that they would acknowledge gun ownership if their pediatrician asked about guns in the home. Therefore, rather than relying on assumptions about whether particular patients seem likely to be gun owners, pediatricians should ask all families whether they own guns.

Grossman DC. Mang K. Rivara FP. Firearm injury prevention counseling by pediatricians and family physicians. Practices and beliefs, Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. 149 (9): 973-7, 1995 Sept.

Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.

Abstract

Objectives:: To ascertain and compare beliefs, attitudes, and counseling practices of primary care physicians of children and adolescents regarding firearm injury prevention counseling.
Design:: Cross-sectional survey.
Setting:: State of Washington.
Subjects:: All active members of state chapters of the American Academy of Pediatricians and American Academy of Family Physicians. A total of 979 pediatricians and family physicians (53%) responded to the survey after two mailings.
Main Outcome Measures:: Attitudes, beliefs, and current practices with regard to firearm safety counseling among families of child and adolescent patients.
Results:: Only 25% of pediatricians and 12% of family physicians currently counsel more than 5% of their patients. Pediatricians were more likely than family physicians (70% vs. 46%, P < .001, chi 2 test) to believe that physicians have a responsibility to counsel families about firearm safety. Pediatricians recommended removing guns from the home more frequently that family physicians (32% vs. 19%, P < .001, chi 2 test), but most physicians of both specialties perceived that parents are rarely receptive to this advice. However, 97% of physicians from both specialties agreed that firearms should be stored locked separately from ammunition, and a substantial majority believed that parents would be receptive to this advice. Compared with physicians who owned guns (32%), non-owners were 15 times more likely (odds ratio, 15; 95% confidence interval, 10 to 23) to agree that families with children should not keep firearms in the home.
Conclusions:: Few primary care physicians who see children and adolescents currently counsel families about firearm safety, although many agree that they have such a responsibility. At least half of these physicians would potentially benefit from an intervention to improve their knowledge of and counseling skills on this topic.

Haught K. Grossman D. Connell F. Parents’ attitudes toward firearm injury prevention counseling in urban pediatric clinics. Pediatrics. 96 (4 Pt 1): 649-53, 1995 Oct.

Department of Health Services, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.

Abstract

Objectives:: To examine characteristics and experiences associated with gun ownership among parents of pediatric patients who attend urban pediatric clinics and to determine the receptivity to these parents to firearm injury prevention counseling.
Design:: A focus group discussion was followed by a cross-sectional survey.
Setting:: Four public pediatric clinics in a large metropolitan area were included.
Participants:: A focus group discussion was held with parents and was used to develop the questionnaire, which was then distributed over a 6-week period to parents accompanying children to the clinic. The anonymous, self-administered questionnaire was completed by 510 parents or guardians, with an 88% response rate.
Results:: Twenty percent of respondents reported that they had a firearm in the home. Twenty-seven percent of respondents had experienced having a family member shot. Eighty-two percent of all respondents indicated that they would find information about the safest way to store a gun helpful or very helpful. Of all respondents, 47% would follow and an additional 37% would think over a provider’s advice not to keep guns in the home. Gun owners were less inclined to report that they would follow this advice (19%), but 55% of the gun owners would think over this advice. Only 6% of all respondents reported that they would ignore or be offended by such advice.
Conclusions:: Children attending public urban pediatric clinics are exposed to guns in their homes, and their parents appear to be receptive to firearm injury prevention counseling from their child’s health care providers.

Schuster MA. Franke TM. Bastian AM. Sor S. Halfon N. Firearm storage patterns in US homes with children. American Journal of Public Health. 90 (4): 588-94, 2000 Apr.

University of California, Los Angeles, USA. schuster@rand.org

Abstract

Objectives:: This study determined the prevalence and storage patterns of firearms in US homes with children.
Methods:: We analyzed data from the 1994 National Health Interview Survey and Year 2000 objectives supplement. A multistage sample design was used to represent the civilian non-institutionalized US population.
Results:: Respondents from 35% of the homes with children younger than 18 years (representing more than 22 million children in more than 11 million homes) reported having at least 1 firearm. Among homes with children and firearms, 43% had at least 1 unlocked firearm (i.e. not in a locked place and not locked with a trigger lock or other locking mechanism). Overall, 9% kept firearms unlocked and loaded, and 4% kept them unlocked, unloaded, and stored with ammunition; thus a total of 13% of the homes with children and firearms – 1.4 million homes with 2.6 million children – stored firearms in a manner most accessible to children. In contrast, 39% of these families kept firearms locked, unloaded, and separate from ammunition.
Conclusions:: Many children live in homes with firearms that are stored in an accessible manner. Efforts to prevent children’s access to firearms are needed.