By the Numbers: 29 August 2022
50%
The percentage of American gun owners who store their firearms locked, according to a recent research review from the RAND Corporation -- Personal Firearm Storage in the United States: Recent Estimates, Patterns, and Effectiveness of Interventions. The review indicated that 1/3 of gun owners "store all of their firearms locked and unloaded."
The greatest influence of storage practices among those who do not store their firearms as recommended are their perceptions of risk and protection. There is some evidence that clinical interventions, such as lethal means counseling, communication campaigns, or trainings, are effective at changing gun owners' storage practices, but distributing storage devices might be most effective. Although there is evidence that child-access prevention laws that impose penalties on adults who enable children to have unsupervised access to firearms might reduce suicide, unintentional injuries, and violent crime, these laws' influence on gun owners' storage practices specifically might depend on the other firearm-related policies within individual states. Given the importance of preventing unauthorized individuals' access to firearms and the importance of current gun owners' storage practices, new approaches are needed and evaluations must be conducted to improve firearm storage practices in the United States.
50%
The percentage of American gun owners who store their firearms locked, according to a recent research review from the RAND Corporation -- Personal Firearm Storage in the United States: Recent Estimates, Patterns, and Effectiveness of Interventions. The review indicated that 1/3 of gun owners "store all of their firearms locked and unloaded."
The greatest influence of storage practices among those who do not store their firearms as recommended are their perceptions of risk and protection. There is some evidence that clinical interventions, such as lethal means counseling, communication campaigns, or trainings, are effective at changing gun owners' storage practices, but distributing storage devices might be most effective. Although there is evidence that child-access prevention laws that impose penalties on adults who enable children to have unsupervised access to firearms might reduce suicide, unintentional injuries, and violent crime, these laws' influence on gun owners' storage practices specifically might depend on the other firearm-related policies within individual states. Given the importance of preventing unauthorized individuals' access to firearms and the importance of current gun owners' storage practices, new approaches are needed and evaluations must be conducted to improve firearm storage practices in the United States.