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Assessing Children’s Knowledge of Firearm Storage in Homes

Screen families of child and adult maltreatment for:

  1. Firearm ownership
  2. Firearm location
  3. Firearm storage
  4. Ammunition storage
  5. Whether they have discussed safe firearm handling with family members

Screen children for their knowledge of gun location and gun safety practices.

  1. Is there a firearm in your house?
  2. What does the firearm look like?
  3. Is it real or is it a toy?
  4. Where is the firearm stored?
  5. Do you know how to get at it?
  6. Have your parents told you not to try to get it?

FAP providers should know:

  1. State and federal laws bearing on child exposure to firearms,
  2. Military unit policies on gun possession and storage,
  3. Family members’ knowledge of family ownership and storage of firearms, and
  4. Recommended educational programs for parents to teach children about firearm safety.

Among these campaigns to enhance preventive measures are safe storage practices, gun locks, and storing ammunition away from the weapon.

Public health campaigns to reduce firearm deaths and injuries have put forth messages encouraging screening and counseling of high-risk persons and families. Among these campaigns to enhance preventive measures are safe storage practices, gun locks, and storing ammunition away from the weapon. Other efforts have occurred in legislation including removing access to firearms from people deemed to be at high risk for harm to themselves and others.

While these efforts may reduce firearm-related fatalities, there are other means to learn about children’s actions in relation to firearms in the home. A 2017 study of 297 parent-child dyads in Atlanta who presented to pediatric emergency departments evaluated parent-reported presence (or absence) of firearms in the home and firearm storage practices (Doh et al., 2021). The survey also assessed the children’s perception of their access to firearms and their ability to identify a toy firearm versus a real one. Parents and children completed surveys independently. Children were between ages 7–17. Parents were largely females (79%), were less than 40 years of age and had some college education or beyond. Fifty-three percent of gun owners reported storing guns insecurely. Firearm owners were more likely than non-gun owners to believe their child could access a firearm (11%–3%). That is, 11% of gun-owning parents thought their child knew where to get their gun, and 53% of children of gun-owning parents knew where their parent’s gun was stored. Importantly, 59% of children could not identify a toy gun versus a real gun in a picture. Also important, only 14% of non-gun-owning parents asked if firearms were present in homes that they visited, compared to 55% of gun-owning parents.

This study concluded that there were significant discrepancies between what parents believed their children knew and what their children perceived about guns. The authors also stated there is a disconnect between public policy recommendations on gun safety and reported risk behaviors by parents and children around firearm storage. In other words, while there are campaigns to improve the home safety with regard to the storage of guns and gun storage practices, these campaigns may have underestimated children’s knowledge about firearms and firearm safety in the home.

What should FAP providers do to assess parent and child knowledge about firearms, firearm location, and firearm storage?

References

Doh, K. F., Morris, C. R., Akbar, T., Chaudhary, S., Lazarus, S. G., Figueroa, J.,… Simon, H. K. (2021). The relationship between parents’ reported storage of firearms and their children’s perceived access to firearms: A safety disconnect. Clinical Pediatrics (Phila), 60(1), 42-49. doi:10.1177/0009922820944398