HOW CAN ACCIDENTAL SHOOTINGS IN THE HOME BE PREVENTED?
Safe Storage/Trigger Locks/Personalization Technology
Every year, hundreds of American children are killed or injured in unintended shootings. In fact, the rate of unintentional gun deaths of children is nine times higher in the United States than in twenty-five other industrialized countries (such as Australia, France, Israel, Canada, Germany and England) combined.1 Many of these shootings result from access to guns in the home. In addition, approximately 17,000 Americans sustain non-fatal gun injuries annually.2 The majority of those injured are males, aged 15-34 who sustain self-inflicted injuries while engaged in gun-related activities, such as cleaning, loading/unloading, hunting, target shooting, or showing off the gun. The highest rate of injury is among 15-24 year olds.2
The storage practices of gun owners and the lack of safety features on most guns are contributing factors in many of these preventable shootings. Several surveys have found that many handgun owners fail to store their guns locked and separate from ammunition, which is how law enforcement agencies typically recommend that guns be stored. Indeed, two recent studies suggest that gun owners who have received formal training in the safe handling of guns, including safe storage, are more likely than others to store guns loaded and unlocked.3,4,5,6
People who feel they must have guns in the home have several options for decreasing the risk of an unintended shooting. Most gun stores sell safes and sturdy lockboxes which have a key or combination lock. Most also sell trigger locks or other accessories which prevent the discharge of an otherwise accessible gun. These devices vary tremendously in quality, but some effective models are available. Some locking devices, like trigger locks, should never be used on loaded guns. Others, like cable locks and chamber locks, prevent loading when in use.
A third strategy, not yet widely available, is to "personalize" the gun, making it incapable of operation by anyone who is not supposed to use it.7,8 Although several personalization devices have been available for years, gun manufacturers have failed to incorporate the technology into their products. Several recent lawsuits seek to force the industry to make such devices available, since the design of guns, unlike every other consumer product sold in America, is not subject to any safety-related regulation.
Different safe storage practices and safety devices have more or less utility in preventing an unintentional injury, depending upon such factors as the age of the person handling the gun and whether a gun owner finds it necessary to keep a gun loaded. For example, a device that alerts an adult gun owner that there is a round in the chamber may prevent him from unintentionally shooting himself while cleaning his gun, but will be ineffective in preventing a toddler from shooting a playmate when he finds a gun his parents thought was unloaded. It is important for a wide array of safety devices to be available in the marketplace, so that gun owners can choose the device most likely to prevent an unintentional shooting in a particular situation. However, the safest approach is to remove all guns from your home.
References:
1. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Rates of Homicide, Suicide, and Firearm-Related Death Among Children - 26 Industrialized Countries. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Volume 46, Number 5, pages 101-105 (1997).
2. Sinauer, N, Annest, JL, Mercy, JA. Unintentional, Nonfatal Firearm-Related Injuries: A Preventable Public Health Burden. Journal of the American Medical Association, Volume 275, Number 22, pages 1740-1743 (1996).
3. Cook, P., and Ludwig, J., Guns in America: National Survey on Private Ownership and Use of Firearms. National Institutes of Justice Research In Brief (May 1997).
4. Denno, D.M., et al. Safe Storage of Handguns: What do the Police Recommend? Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Volume 150, pages 927-931 (1996).
5. Senturia, Y.D., Christoffel, K.K., and Donovan, M., Gun Storage Patterns in US Homes with Children. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Volume 150, pages 265-269 (1996).
6. Hemenway, D., Solnick, S.J., and Azrael, D.R., Firearm Training and Storage. Journal of the American Medical Association., Volume 273, Number 1, pages 46-50 (1995).
7. U.S. General Accounting Office, Accidental Shootings: Many Deaths and Injuries Caused by Firearms Could be Prevented, GAO/PEMD-91-9, March, 1991.
8. Robinson, K.D., Teret, S.P., Vernick, J.S., Webster, D.W. Personalized Guns: Reducing Gun Deaths Through Design. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research (1996).
Further Reading:
Kids Shooting Kids: Stories from Across the Nation of Unintentional Shootings Among Children and Youth. Violence Policy Center, Washington D.C. (202) 822-8200. March 1997.
Resources:
Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy & Research, 624 North Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205-1996, (410) 955-3995, jhsph.edu
Violence Prevention Research Program, University of California, Davis, 2315 Stockton Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95817, (916) 734-3539, web.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu
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