Keeping guns locked cuts youth death toll

Guns kept locked, unloaded and with ammunition locked away in a separate location are two-thirds less likely to be used by a youth for suicide or an accidental shooting than guns and ammo not stored safely, according to a new study.

Such strategies are key components of gun safety training and guidelines for gun owners in households with young children and are increasingly being mandated by state law, but the research reported Wednesday in The Journal of the American Medical Association is the first to directly measure the impact on suicide and accidental shootings.

"Regardless of whether the injury was unintentional or a suicide attempt, (the guns involved) were less likely to be stored locked or unloaded, and ammunition was less likely to be locked," reported a team led by Dr. David Grossman, director of preventive care for Group Health Permanente in Seattle.

The study, sponsored by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention examined records from medical examiners, coroners and hospitals in 37 counties in Washington, Oregon and Missouri, and five trauma centers in Seattle, Spokane and Tacoma, Wash., and Kansas City, Mo.

They identified 268 fatal and non-fatal shootings involving a person under the age of 20 between 1994 and 2001, and were able to interview 106 owners of the guns involved (usually, but not always, the parent of a victim) about how the gun and ammunition were stored in the house beforehand.

Of the shootings, 81 were suicide attempts (95 percent fatal) and 25 were unintentional injuries (52 percent fatal). Homicides and deliberate gun assaults were not included in the study because legal issues might have kept owners from answering questions honestly.

The researchers identified another 480 households where children lived or frequently visited that had at least one gun, and interviewed those owners about their storage practices.

Earlier research established that having a gun in the house is associated with increased risk of suicide among both adults and teens. One study of suicide attempts found that 75 percent of guns used were stored in the residence of the victim, a relative or friend.

Another study found that 35 percent of all homes with children younger than 18 had at least one firearm, and 43 percent of those homes had at least one gun that was kept unlocked.

Groups ranging from the American Academy of Pediatrics to the National Rifle Association encourage safe storage of guns and ammunition by parents and others who have guns in homes frequented by children, but there has been little effort to measure how effective the steps are.

Grossman said the results show that programs and policies that encourage keeping households' guns locked and unloaded "deserve further attention as one avenue toward the prevention of firearm injuries" in teens and children.

On the Net: www.jama.com

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