Community based program to improve firearm storage practices in rural Alaska

Author: Horn, A. / Grossman, D. C. / Jones, W. / Berger, L. R.
Publication: Injury Prevention
Topics: Age Group Public Health Storage Urban/Rural
Keywords: Alaska Native Firearms intervention pilot program youth access
Bibliographic information +

The authors developed and evaluated a pilot program to reduce unauthorized access to firearms by youth by distributing gun safes and trigger locks to households in two Alaska Native villages in the Bristol Bay Health Corporation region of southwest Alaska. One gun safe and one trigger lock were distributed to each of the selected households during December 2000, while Village public safety officers helped with the distribution of the safes and provided storage education. Data were collected at the time of distribution and three months later. 85% of homes were found to have unlocked guns in the home at baseline, but at follow-up, 86% of the gun safes were found locked with guns inside and 30% of the trigger locks were in use.