Storage of household firearms: an examination of the attitudes and beliefs of married women with children

Author: Johnson RM / Runyan CW / Coyne-Beasley T / Lewis MA / Bowling JM
Publication: Health Educ Res
Topics: Ownership Public Opinion Storage U.S./National
Keywords: Adult Health Knowledge Middle Aged Mothers Safety
Bibliographic information +

The authors examine factors associated with safe storage of firearms among married women, with children, who have firearms in their homes. Data come from a national telephone survey. 185 women met criteria for inclusion. Respondents with safe storage practices (i.e., keeping firearms stored unloaded or in a locked place) had more favorable attitudes about safe storage, more supportive views of how their husbands view safe storage, and a greater sense that their own views factored into household decisions about firearm storage. One-fourth believed a firearm would prevent a family member from being hurt in case of a break-in, 58% believed a firearm could scare off a burglar. 63% said they leave decisions about firearm storage to their husbands. Those who believed that a firearm could scare off a burglar or keep someone in the family from being hurt were less likely to have a favorable attitude toward keeping the firearm locked up. Most respondents indicated that their husbands favored storing the firearm unloaded (90.8%) and in a locked place (72.4%). Similarly, 95.1% of the respondents agreed that the referent firearm would be unloaded ‘if I wanted it to be’, and 88.1% agreed that it would be stored locked up if that were her preference. Despite high perceptions of behavioral control, 63.2% reported that they ‘mostly leave it up to their husbands to decide how to store the gun’.