Gun Storage

We analyzed a number of national random-digit-dial telephone surveys. Many gun owners report storing their guns loaded and unlocked. Gun training is often associated with an increased likelihood of storing firearms in this manner.

Weil, Douglas S; Hemenway, David. Loaded guns in the home: An analysis of a national, random survey of gun owners. JAMA. 1992; 267:3033-37. See response: Weil DS, Hemenway D. Violence in America: Guns. JAMA. 1992; 268:307.

Hemenway, David; Solnick, Sara J; Azrael Deborah R. Firearm training and storage. JAMA. 1995; 273:46-50. See response: Hemenway D, Solnick SJ, Azrael DR. Firearms training. JAMA. 1995; 273:1733-34.

Berrigan J, Azrael D, Hemenway D, Miller M. Firearm training and storage practices among US gun owners: a nationally representative study. Injury Prevention. 2019; 25Suppl 1(i31-i38).

We analyzed gun storage practices from data obtained from a 1999 national random-digit-dial survey of adults conducted under the auspices of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center.  Prior studies found that women appear to underreport household gun ownership.  This study indicates that women, when they report a gun in the home, often incorrectly believe that it is stored unloaded and locked up.

Azrael, Deborah; Miller, Matthew; Hemenway, David.  “Are firearms stored safely in households with children? It depends on whom you ask.”  Pediatrics electronic pages.  2000; 106: e31.

Some 400 parents with firearms in the home responded to questions about firearms storage.  Over 20% of parents had a loaded firearm and 8% stored at least one firearm loaded and unlocked.  Households with teenagers were somewhat more likely to store firearms unsafely.

Johnson, Renee M; Miller, Matthew; Vriniotis, Mary; Azrael, Deborah; Hemenway, David.  “Are household firearms stored less safely in homes with adolescents?: Analysis of a national random sample of parents.”  Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.  2006; 160:788-92.

We summarized the literature on preventing child access to firearms.

Johnson, Renee; Hemenway, David.  Prevention of children and youths’ access to and operation of firearms: A review of interventions.  Preventing access to and use of firearms.  In: Trafton, Jodie A & Gordon, William P (eds).  Best Practices in the Behavioral Management of Health from Preconception to Adolescence, Vol III.  Institute for Brain Potential.  2008.

Data from a nationally representative sample of US adults indicate that about 1/3 of households contain a firearm, and the in 20% at least one gun is stored loaded and unlocked. Hence about 7% of US children live in a home with firearms stored in the most unsafe manner.

Azrael D, Cohen J, Salhi C, Miller M. Firearm storage in gun-owning households with children: results of a 2015 national survey. Journal of Urban Health. 2018; 95:295-304.

We conducted a modeling study using Monte Carlo simulation to determine the possible effects of an intervention on youth (age 0-19) firearm suicide and unintentional firearm deaths of increasing the percentage of households with youth storing all guns locked. The model indicated that 6%-32% of the deaths could be eliminated depending on the percentage increase in safer storage.

Monuteaux MC, Azrael D, Miller M. Association of increased safe household firearm storage with firearm suicide and unintentional death among US youths. JAMA Pediatrics. 2019; 173:657-662.

From our 2015 national survey, 58% of gun owners believe the gun makes the home safer (only 2.5% believe guns make the home more dangerous). 40% of the owners who believe the gun makes the home safer store at least one gun loaded and unlocked. Of those who thought the gun made the home more dangerous, only 4% kept a gun loaded and unlocked. In the middle group,18% kept a gun loaded and unlocked. Gun owners who believe that firearms make homes safer are far more likely to store guns loaded and unlocked.

Mauri AI, Wolfson JA, Azrael D, Miller M. Firearm storage practices and risk perceptions. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2019; 57:830-835.

From our 2019 national survey, we used latent class analysis to construct three types of gun owners. Many (47%) believe that guns unconditionally make the home safer; some that “it depends” (34%); and some (19%) believe guns do not pose a risk as long as they are stored safely. Compared to the other groups, the first group is most likely to store guns loaded and unlocked.

Salhi C, Azrael D, Miller M. Patterns of gun owner beliefs about firearm risk in relation to firearm storage: a latent class analysis using the 2019 National Firearm Survey. Injury Prevention. 2021; 27:271-276.

A May 2020 Amazon Mechanical Turk survey of new gun owners found that they acquired the gun for protection, and only 60% stored all their guns locked up.

Lyons VH, Haviland MJ, Azrael D, Adhia A, Bellenger MA, Ellyson A, Rowhani-Rahbar A, Rivara FP. Firearm purchasing and storage during the COVID-19 pandemic. Injury Prevention. 2021; 27:87-92.

Data from our 2021 national survey showed that 7.5 million Americans became new gun owners between January 2019-April 2021. Among the new owners, 50% were women, 20% were Black, and 20% were Hispanic.

Miller M, Zhang W, Azrael D. Firearm purchasing during the COVID-19 pandemic: Results from the 2021 National Firearms Survey. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2022: 175:219-225.

Data from our 2021 National Firearm Survey show that 44% of firearm owners with children store all guns locked and unloaded, compared to 29% in our 2015 national survey. But because more parents have guns, the number of children living in households with loaded and unlocked firearm (4.6 million) had not changed.

Miller M, Azrael D. Firearm storage in US households with children: findings from the 2021 National Firearm Survey. JAMA Network Open. 2022; 5:e2148823.

Over 225 gun-owning parents were given either handgun lockboxes or cable locks. At follow-up, 28% reported using the lockbox, compared to 14% the cable lock.

Barber C, Azrael D, Berrigan J, Betz ME, Brandspigel S, Runyan C, Salhi C, Vriniotis M, Miller M. Selection and use of firearm and medication locking devices in a lethal means counseling program. Crisis. 2023; 44:216-223.