{"id":210876,"date":"2024-03-12T07:01:02","date_gmt":"2024-03-12T11:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=210876"},"modified":"2024-03-08T13:37:17","modified_gmt":"2024-03-08T18:37:17","slug":"storing-firearms-at-home-what-uconn-experts-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2024\/03\/storing-firearms-at-home-what-uconn-experts-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Storing Firearms at Home: What UConn Experts Say"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the past few years,\u00a0guns have been identified<\/a>\u00a0as the\u00a0leading cause of death<\/a>\u00a0for children in the United States.<\/p>\n

There were\u00a02,571 children age 1 to 17 who died in shootings<\/a>\u00a0in the U.S. in 2021, 68% more than the 1,531 that occurred in 2000.<\/p>\n

To help reduce the number of firearm-related deaths and injuries among children, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona in January 2024\u00a0called upon school and district administrators<\/a>\u00a0to talk with parents and guardians about safe firearm storage practices.<\/p>\n

As\u00a0experts<\/a>\u00a0on the\u00a0safe storage of firearms<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 and as leaders of the University of Connecticut\u2019s\u00a0ARMS Center for Gun Injury Prevention<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 we often get questions about the best ways to keep guns out of the hands of children. We offer the following tips:<\/p>\n

1. Safely store all of your firearms<\/h2>\n

Nearly half of the households in the U.S. have at least one firearm, but only about 40% of firearm owners store all of their guns when not in use, according to data in a survey we recently fielded. Unsecured firearms have been linked to\u00a0suicides, domestic homicides and accidental shootings<\/a>. They also heighten the risk of unauthorized use, which\u00a0includes theft<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2. Don\u2019t assume you can hide your guns<\/h2>\n

Kids generally know the hiding spots for the things their parents or caretakers do not want them to find, such as holiday gifts or Halloween candy. The same is true with firearms.<\/p>\n

In\u00a040% of gun-owning households<\/a>\u00a0with children, adults said their children did not know where firearms were stored, a 2017 study found. However, many of the\u00a0children reported knowing<\/a>\u00a0and being able to access the firearms.<\/p>\n

Researchers estimate that\u00a075% of children<\/a>\u00a0who live in homes with guns know where they are stored.<\/p>\n

Adults may think they can instruct children to leave firearms alone, but the 2017 study also found that\u00a022% of parents<\/a>\u00a0wrongly believed that their children had never handled their gun.<\/p>\n

3. Store ammunition separately<\/h2>\n

Research shows that locking ammunition separately from firearms further\u00a0reduces the risk<\/a>\u00a0of firearm injuries in homes with children and teenagers.<\/p>\n

While storing an unreadied weapon locked away may feel counterintuitive to those who own guns for personal protection, research shows that keeping firearms locked or unloaded, or both, can also\u00a0reduce risk of injury<\/a>.<\/p>\n

4. Learn to talk about firearm safety<\/h2>\n

While some families may not have firearms in their home, eventually children go to other homes and, as they get older, go unsupervised.<\/p>\n

Keeping children safe from gun violence requires normalizing conversations on firearm storage, even for people in households where no gun is present.<\/p>\n

Approximately\u00a045% of all unintentional shooting deaths<\/a>\u00a0of children under 17 occurred outside of their own homes. When children visit friends, we believe it\u2019s important for their parents to know if guns are present in the home they are visiting and, if present, whether those firearms are being safely stored.<\/p>\n

For more information about how to discuss firearm safety, parents can visit websites such as\u00a0BeSMART<\/a>,\u00a0End Family Fire<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Secure Storage of Lethal Means<\/a>.<\/p>\n

5. Know the law<\/h2>\n

Twenty-seven states<\/a>\u00a0have some version of\u00a0secure storage laws<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Based on our calculations\u00a0using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>, states with child access prevention laws \u2013 known as\u00a0CAP laws<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 have a gun death rate that is 65% lower than states that do not have CAP laws (12.33 vs. 20.38 per 100,000). Of course, states with and without CAP laws have many differences; therefore, the lower rates cannot be attributed to CAP laws alone. However, the presence of CAP laws is protective and reduces gun death.<\/p>\n

In the absence of a federal secure storage law, the legal requirements around firearm storage and preventing unauthorized children from accessing weapons vary by state or municipality.<\/p>\n

For example, Connecticut\u00a0requires firearms be in a locked device<\/a>\u00a0when not in use.<\/p>\n

Iowa prohibits<\/a>\u00a0the storing or leaving a loaded firearm around children 14 and younger if it is not secured by a trigger lock or a securely locked container or some other secure location.<\/p>\n

Further, while Michigan only recently added a safe storage law, Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of a boy who committed a mass school shooting with his parents\u2019 unsecured firearm,\u00a0was recently convicted<\/a>\u00a0of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the case. Her husband\u2019s trial in the matter\u00a0began on March 5, 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n

6. Invest in a quality safe and\/or locking device<\/h2>\n

There are various levels of locked gun storage, including\u00a0trigger locks<\/a>,\u00a0metal cable locks<\/a>,\u00a0locked gun cases and gun safes<\/a>. While storing a firearm and the ammunition in a locked combination or biometric device\u00a0is safest<\/a>, all of these methods can reduce the risk of gun injury and death. These locking devices can be purchased online, through some gun sellers or at sporting goods stores.<\/p>\n

A biometric safe for a handgun is about US$65, a gun lock runs $55 to $75 dollars, and combination safes for long guns range widely from a couple of hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars.<\/p>\n

Family-school-community partnerships allow America\u2019s children to grow and thrive. By asking schools to share resources for secure firearm storage and communicate evidence-based safety practices, the Department of Education is helping schools address the leading cause of death among American children.<\/p>\n

But families have to do their part, too. It begins by normalizing firearm safety conversations and storing firearms properly to keep children safe.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Originally published in The Conversation.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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