Majority of Parents With Guns Don't Follow Safety Guidelines
Majority of Parents With Guns Don't Follow Safety Guidelines
Dec. 1, 1999 (Cleveland) -- Less than one-half of gun-owning parents report that they follow recommendations for safe firearm storage in their homes, according to these survey results published in the November issue of the journal Pediatrics.
Mirna M. Farah, MD, and colleagues, surveyed 400 parents who brought their children (aged 4 to 12 years) into emergency rooms in suburban Atlanta. Of these parents, over 25% reported that they kept a firearm, mostly handguns, in the home. Gun owners were mostly white, married men, aged 30 years or older. Of these gun owners, over half kept their firearms loaded and/or unlocked.
Survey results also showed that parents who own guns often mistakenly believe that their children can distinguish between toy guns and the real thing. Close to 75% of these gun owners responded that they thought their 4- to 12-year-old children could tell the difference, while about 25% believed their child could be trusted to safely handle a loaded gun.
"Parents who own guns don't seem to know when children can be trusted around guns. Their perceptions were not in line with the developmental abilities of children. Obviously, there's a disconnect between realizing what the potential risks are and ownership," says study co-author Harold K. Simon, MD.
Parents were less likely to trust other children with a loaded gun than their own child. Gun owners thought that children could be trusted with a loaded gun at an earlier age compared with those who did not own guns. Gun owners were also more likely to endorse safe storage and close parental supervision as the best way to prevent accidental shootings, while non-gun owners thought the best prevention was not to own guns at all.
One of the co-authors of this current survey, Arthur Kellermann, MD, reported in 1993 that the risk of domestic homicide is three times greater in homes with guns. According to statistics from the CDC and the U.S. Bureau of the Census, roughly 500 children die each year from unintentional gunshot wounds, and one-third of these children are aged 5 to 14 years. According to statistics from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), a child is killed every two hours with a loaded gun.
Majority of Parents With Guns Don't Follow Safety Guidelines
Dec. 1, 1999 (Cleveland) -- Less than one-half of gun-owning parents report that they follow recommendations for safe firearm storage in their homes, according to these survey results published in the November issue of the journal Pediatrics.
Mirna M. Farah, MD, and colleagues, surveyed 400 parents who brought their children (aged 4 to 12 years) into emergency rooms in suburban Atlanta. Of these parents, over 25% reported that they kept a firearm, mostly handguns, in the home. Gun owners were mostly white, married men, aged 30 years or older. Of these gun owners, over half kept their firearms loaded and/or unlocked.
Survey results also showed that parents who own guns often mistakenly believe that their children can distinguish between toy guns and the real thing. Close to 75% of these gun owners responded that they thought their 4- to 12-year-old children could tell the difference, while about 25% believed their child could be trusted to safely handle a loaded gun.
"Parents who own guns don't seem to know when children can be trusted around guns. Their perceptions were not in line with the developmental abilities of children. Obviously, there's a disconnect between realizing what the potential risks are and ownership," says study co-author Harold K. Simon, MD.
Parents were less likely to trust other children with a loaded gun than their own child. Gun owners thought that children could be trusted with a loaded gun at an earlier age compared with those who did not own guns. Gun owners were also more likely to endorse safe storage and close parental supervision as the best way to prevent accidental shootings, while non-gun owners thought the best prevention was not to own guns at all.
One of the co-authors of this current survey, Arthur Kellermann, MD, reported in 1993 that the risk of domestic homicide is three times greater in homes with guns. According to statistics from the CDC and the U.S. Bureau of the Census, roughly 500 children die each year from unintentional gunshot wounds, and one-third of these children are aged 5 to 14 years. According to statistics from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), a child is killed every two hours with a loaded gun.
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