Posted on 06/04/2007 4:16:48 AM PDT by Pharmboy
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Few families store their firearms safely, according to a pediatric researcher at Brenner Children's Hospital, part of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. Robert H. DuRant, Ph.D., and his colleagues' research study results are published in the June issue of Pediatrics.
"Over 70 percent of the families surveyed reported not storing their firearms safely in their residence," DuRant said. "This concerns us a great deal because having guns in the home increases the likelihood that they will be used in a suicide or unintentional injury. It's imperative that parents understand the necessity of storing guns safely in the home."
Storage patterns are most influenced by firearm type, family socialization with guns and the age of the child, DuRant said.
"Our research shows that unsafe gun storage is associated with families who were raised with guns in the home," he said. "They tend to be more comfortable with guns and are less likely to store them safely. We also found that families who had children aged 2 to 5 years and owned long guns were more likely to store guns safely than families with older children."
"Our primary recommendation is that parents should remove guns from the home," DuRant said. "However, if parents are unwilling to do that, they should lock all guns with gun locks and store them separately from ammunition."
Firearm ownership was highest in families with two adults in the home, according to the study. Families in rural areas are more likely to own long guns and families who own long guns only are more likely to store guns unlocked but store ammunition separately from guns. Families who owned hand guns were more likely to store the guns locked but to have the guns loaded.
"We are encouraging all pediatricians to talk with parents about safe gun storage practices," he said. "We want to prevent unnecessary deaths."
DuRant and colleagues administered the survey to 3,745 parents in 96 pediatric offices in 45 states, Puerto Rico and Canada. The offices were part of the Pediatric Research in Office Settings group. The survey measured family history of guns in the house, firearm types, storage behaviors and ownership.
### In addition to DuRant, Shari Barkin, M.D., Edward H. Ip, Ph.D., from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center; Joseph A. Craig, M.D. from Rocky Mountain Youth Clinics in Denver, Colorado, Victoria A. Weiley, M.I.S., from the American Academy of Pediatrics and Richard C. Wasserman, M.D., M.P.H., from the University of Vermont, also participated in the study.
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Media Contacts: Rae Bush, rbush@wfubmc.edu, or Karen Richardson, krchrdsn@wfubmc.edu, at (336) 716-4587.
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is an academic health system comprised of North Carolina Baptist Hospital, Wake Forest University Health Sciences and Brenner Children's Hospital. The system comprises 1,238 acute care, rehabilitation, psychiatry and long-term care beds and is consistently ranked as one of "America's Best Hospitals" by U.S. News & World Report.
Thanks!
lol - I bet it meant “can’t quite shave with it”, for many of you.
Anytime....my pleasure. Thank you, again, for reformatting it for us.
DHMO kills, yet every pediatrician freely prescribes it, even for infants. They don't even demand that the DHMO supplies in your house be locked up.
Ping to the item in #81. Useful in preparing for a pediatrician interchange.
Your kid is 7 and doesn’t shoot?
I find that to be strange.
Why do you keep the tools to defend himself hidden?
Have you at least taught him to use his fists?
Excellent! Thanks for the link...
Glad to hear that the perp’s aim with the blade was high and to the side. Quite a story...
LOL..You got it! ( The shop teacher didn’t care either )
Their definition of “safe” is likely far differnt from mine.
“Hoplophobia” defined:
An irrational fear of weapons (literal; normally applies to firearms) and by extension those who advocate their possession and responsible use.
Need at least two: shotgun and handgun.
Unless you live outside of town: then a nice little plinker for bunnies and such.
Unless you have a large house: might be tough to get from back porch to front bedroom in time to drag out the glock.
Unless you live in a really bad part of town: trade the guns in for kevlar and bandages - or for rent somewhere else.
Select any 'not-in-the-safe' firearms for personal fit and function rather than for pretty or valuable.
Always make them legal, don't try to bypass any registration etc. Police around here would love to find a questionable handgun on a citizen's coffee table.
Note to all - unless things have changed, most gun safes are for security and not for fire, select well.
This is a totally bogus survey.
Those surveyed were ‘self-selected’. Most responsible gun owners would have answered ‘no guns’, or refused to take the survey, tilting the results.
This is no better than an internet survey.
Fear and hate mongers at work!
Wake Up America!!
translation “we tried the ‘citizen have rights’ and ‘citizens can be responsible’ approach so now we want to do the ‘citizens can’t be trusted with rights’ approach”
Big Brother loves you (/s)
I wouldn’t tell anyone about my guns if they asked.
“Firearm ownership was highest in families with two adults in the home, according to the study. “
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