Approximately 4 million children live in homes with easy access to firearms, raising significant safety concerns. Dr. Maya Haasz, a pediatric emergency physician and firearm researcher at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, is focused on understanding the perspectives of gun-owning adults who have children living in their households.
Dr. Haasz aimed to discover ways to enhance safety for children in homes with firearms and to foster conversations around safe practices. Her research utilized data from Colorado’s first state firearm safety survey, which included responses from about 500 adults living with children under 18. The findings, published in the journal *Pediatrics*, highlighted notable differences in beliefs between gun owners and non-gun owners.
For instance, gun owners were less likely to believe that having a firearm in the home increased danger. Additionally, only 48% of gun owners felt that suicide could be prevented, compared to 69% of non-gun owners. Dr. Haasz emphasized that the belief in the inevitability of suicide is a dangerous myth.
In Colorado, suicide is the leading cause of firearm-related deaths, and a significant portion of gun-related deaths among youth in the Mountain West are suicides. Dr. Haasz noted that skepticism about suicide prevention could hinder acceptance of effective strategies, such as temporarily removing firearms during crises. Gun owners were generally less receptive to this approach, despite acknowledging that secure firearm storage could prevent injuries and fatalities.
Moving forward, Dr. Haasz aims to develop effective communication strategies to discuss these findings with gun owners, emphasizing the dual benefits of secure storage in preventing both unintentional injuries and suicides.
