More than two-thirds of 2,558 Californians living in homes with children or teens who owned firearms and more than half who did not own guns but resided with minors in homes with guns said they believed those weapons made their homes safer, according to a study published this month by the Journal of the American Medical Association's JAMA Network journal.
Of those 2,558 survey respondents, 52.5% were women, 47.5.% were men, 42.9% were white and 30% lived in homes with children, according to those analysts from the University of California at Davis School of Medicine and University of California Firearm Violence Research Center. The adults' mean age was 48.
Specifically, that "Firearm Practices, Perceptions of Safety, and Opinion on Injury Prevention Strategies Among California Adults" study also concluded that:
- 70.6% of those living with children owned guns and believed guns made those households safer.
- 54.9% of adults living in homes with children who did not own guns but had guns in their households believed firearms made them safer.
- 13.3% of former owners of at least one gun said concern for their children's safety prompted them to get rid of those weapons.
- 52.3% of those who owned firearms said it always was appropriate for parents to ask about unlocked guns in homes where their children play.
- 78.4% of those who did not own firearms said it always was appropriate for parents to ask about unlocked guns in homes where their children play.
- 64.5% of firearm owners living with children did not lock and unload stored firearms. That compared to 36.4% of firearm owners who did not live with children.
"[A]lthough a substantial percentage of individuals who owned guns and lived with children did not store all firearms as recommended," the researchers wrote, "parents and caregivers who owned firearms reported being amenable to interventions that reduce young people’s risk of firearm-related harm. Future work should investigate acceptable risk reduction and safe storage interventions."