From 2013 to 2022, the portion of Washington adults who reported storing their household firearms securely rose from 34.9% to 48.8%, according to a University of Washington School of Medicine study.
“This is good news,” said lead author Kelsey Conrick, a postdoctoral scholar at the Firearm Injury & Policy Research Program. “There is still a lot of room for improvement, but our state’s efforts to promote secure firearm storage appear to be working.”
The study claims that past research has associated secure firearm storage, such as storing them unloaded and locked, with reductions in suicide, unintentional injuries, and gun theft.
“Secure storage is a core part of being a responsible firearm owner,” Conrick said. “It keeps firearms out of the hands of children, prevents guns from being stolen, and potentially can put time and space between someone who is in crisis and a weapon they could use to harm themselves or someone else.”
The state has invested in efforts to promote secure firearm storage, including public health media campaigns and the distribution of free lockboxes and trigger locks, Conrick said.
In the study, Conrick and colleagues analyzed Washington state residents’ responses from an annual national survey, which found that about 1 in 3 Washington households has at least one firearm.
From 2013 to 2022, the proportion did not change, but responses indicating secure storage rose across all ages and sexes surveyed, as well as among veterans and adults living in households with children.
“Secure storage did not improve significantly, however, among survey respondents in small towns and rural areas,” wrote author Michael McCarthy.
“Some people in rural communities may have different attitudes towards firearms and keep them for different reasons than some people living in cities — and that can affect how they feel about storing their firearms,” Conrick said. “To reach people, we need to meet them where they are.”
Conrick said these findings can help guide future efforts to promote secure firearm storage.
Study coauthors included Anthony Gomez, Aley Joseph Pallickaparambil and Myduc Ta from Public Health—Seattle & King County, as well as Samantha Banks and Julia Schleimer from the Firearm Injury & Policy Research Program. Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, a UW professor of epidemiology and pediatrics who directs the Firearm Injury & Policy Research Program, is the paper’s senior author.
UW Medicine article written by Michael McCarthy
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