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The Association of Handgun Ownership and Storage Practices With Safety Consciousness
Tamera Coyne-Beasley, MD, MPH;
Kara S. McGee, MSPH, PA-C;
Renee M. Johnson, MPH;
W. Clayton Bordley, MD, MPH
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2002;156:763-768.
Background As with other injury prevention practices, education about safe firearm
storage is recommended to prevent injuries to children.
Objective To assess whether parents who are safety conscious in other respects
also practice firearm safety.
Methods Data come from responses to a baseline survey administered as part of
an intervention study. Participants were consenting adults who brought a child
into an emergency department. These analyses were restricted to those parents
who had young children (<7 years) and who kept a firearm in their house.
A safety consciousness score was developed; participants earned a point for
each of 7 home and car safety behaviors they reported practicing. The relationship
between safety consciousness with handgun ownership and firearm storage practices
was assessed with Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test.
Results Of the 221 participants, most reported that they keep poisonous substances
out of children's reach (92%), always keep children restrained when in cars
(90%), have the telephone number for a poison control center (82%), change
smoke alarm batteries annually (73%), keep electrical outlets capped (72%),
and keep their tap water temperature at 120°F (49°C) or less (65%).
Only 22% reported checking smoke alarm batteries monthly. The median safety
score was 4 (mean [SD], 3.99 [1.4]). Fifty-six percent said there was a handgun
in their home, 27% reported an unlocked gun, 20% reported a loaded gun, and
7% reported a loaded and unlocked gun. Results were not consistent with safety
consciousness being associated with safe firearm storage practices or the
absence of a handgun.
Conclusion Compliance with safety practices may not be associated with safe firearm
storage.
From the Injury Prevention Research Center (Dr Coyne-Beasley), the
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Community Pediatrics, School of Medicine
(Drs Coyne-Beasley and Bordley), and Departments of Maternal and Child Health
(Ms McGee) and Health Behavior and Health Education (Ms Johnson), School of
Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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