In 2001, 2,937 children and teenagers died as a result of gun-related injuries, according to background information in the article. Although gun ownership has been identified as a risk factor for homicide and suicide in the home, a significant percentage of gun-owning parents store their guns loaded or unlocked, substantially underestimating the risk of injury to their children.

Paul S. Carbone, M.D., of the Children's Primary Care Medical Group, San Diego, and colleagues identified gun-owning families through a questionnaire in a large, predominately Hispanic pediatric clinic in Tucson, Ariz. Gun-owning families were then assigned to either an intervention group who received gun-safety counseling, a gun-safety brochure and a free gun lock, or a control group. Families were resurveyed one month later to determine changes in gun-ownership and gun storage.

Of the 2,649 parents surveyed on visiting the clinic, 206 (7.8 percent) reported that they kept guns in their homes; 151 completed both the baseline and follow-up questionnaire. "At follow-up, families who received the intervention were more likely to have improved overall gun-safety practices compared with the control group (61.6 percent vs. 26.9 percent)," the researchers report. "In those households still with guns at follow-up, 50.9 percent of the intervention group had some type of improvement in safe gun storage compared with 12.3 percent of the control group. More specifically, 25.0 percent in the intervention group improved the frequency of locked storage of guns compared with 4.8 percent of those in the control group. Twenty-six percent of the intervention group improved the use of locked storage
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Contact: Darci Slaten
520-626-7217
JAMA and Archives Journals
7-Nov-2005