Many American gun owners don't store their guns safely, even when they leave them loaded and have children at home, according to a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The report, based on data from 2021 and 2022, found that many gun owners continue to store their weapons unlocked and loaded in their homes, despite rising firearm suicides and child firearm deaths.
Gun storage policies varied in eight states: Alaska, California, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio and Oklahoma.
Among Ohioans who had both children and a loaded gun at home, about a quarter said they left their guns unlocked — the lowest rate among the seven states with data on the metric. In Alaska, more than 40% of respondents fell into that category.
Across all eight states, roughly half of respondents who reported having loaded firearms in their home said at least one loaded firearm was stored unlocked, consistent with similar findings on firearm storage behaviors.
The number of children dying by suicide has been on the rise for more than a decade, and in 2022, child firearm suicide rates reached their highest level in more than two decades, which public health experts and advocacy groups say is largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and rising gun sales.
A small number of children die each year from accidental gun shootings, but these often happen while they're playing with guns or showing them to friends. The guns in question were often left on nightstands, loaded and unlocked, according to a 2023 CDC report on unintentional child firearm deaths.
“Storing a firearm out of sight and reach is not safe firearm storage,” said study author Thomas Simon, a researcher in the CDC's Division of Violence Prevention.
“One father told me he didn't even know his 15-year-old son kept a gun in his closet until he found his body after his son had committed suicide.”
Dr. Frederick Rivara, who studies child injuries and injury prevention at the University of Washington, said homes where guns are unloaded and locked are much less likely to have young people commit suicide by firearm than homes where guns are less secure.
Studies have shown that children who live in homes without guns are at lowest risk of suicide by firearm.
Jennifer Stuber, a public health researcher at the University of Washington who studies suicide prevention, said many people keep their guns unlocked so they can be easily accessed if there's an intruder in their home. According to a 2023 Pew Research Center survey, most U.S. gun owners cite defense as their primary reason for owning a gun.
That's why efforts to encourage gun owners to keep their guns empty and locked, as recommended by several groups including the National Shooting Sports Foundation and the Department of Veterans Affairs, are often slow to catch on, she said.
Dr Stuber said he believes people often overestimate the risk of being attacked by a gun and underestimate the likelihood of killing a loved one with a gun.
“I don’t think they really understand the risks,” she said. “People don’t think their gun will be used to commit suicide until they’re in that situation.. “
Rather than trying to convince gun owners to stop worrying about self-defense, she said, a better solution might be to improve access to “rapid-access locking devices” that make it easier to unlock a gun when needed.
““We're not trying to change how people think about home defense,” she said. “I think that's possible, but it's harder than just giving someone a technological solution.”