MaverickNH
NES Member
A Gun Safety Paradox: Study Finds Some Precautions Linked to Riskier Storage Practices
Rutgers Health researchers surveyed 870 parents in nine states with diverse firearm policies and ownership rates.
www.rutgers.edu
"Rutgers Health researchers have found that parents who actively teach their children how to handle or shoot firearms are more likely to store loaded guns in unsecured locations."
My Comment submitted to JAMA Pediatrics:
"This article indicates that those who profess to have trained their children in gun safety admit to storing a gun less safely - loaded/unlocked. A well-known behavior is that people who act irresponsibly are less likely to admit their irresponsible actions. Unsecure gun storage around children has been deemed irresponsible in the popular media and some medical professionals screen and council their patients against unsafe gun storage. Could it be that those gun owners who do not train their children on gun safety believe not training them in gun safety is considered by others as irresponsible, and are thus less likely to admit they store guns unsafely, biasing the outcomes of this study?"