Unlocked, Loaded Guns More Common Among Parents Who Teach Gun Safety

It’s no surprise that parents who own firearms might want to teach their children gun safety and proper handling — since 2020, firearm-related injuries have become the leading cause of death for children in the United States. However, a new study has shown that parents who teach children how to use guns properly are also less likely to store their weapons securely, a safety hazard that puts kids at a greater risk of injury and death.

In a study published Monday by JAMA Pediatrics, researchers found that parents who demonstrated and practiced proper firearm handling with their children, and taught them how to shoot their firearms, were paradoxically more likely to store at least one firearm in their household unlocked and loaded than other gun-owning parents.

The study, conducted by scientists at Rutgers University, surveyed participants from 9 states — New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Minnesota, Florida, Mississippi, Texas, Colorado, and Washington — and included participants who reported at least one firearm in or around the home, and at least one child living in the home.

Out of 870 parents, 47.3 percent demonstrated proper firearm handling for their children, 36.8 percent had their children practice firearm handling under their supervision, and 37.3 percent taught their children how to shoot their firearms. The study revealed that each of these parental behaviors was associated with storing at least one firearm unlocked and loaded, at more than twice the rate of other gun-owning parents.

The researchers noted that the study was limited by its inability to control for children’s characteristics such as age and mental health concerns, and also that results could potentially differ in other states.

So you might wonder: if parents are teaching kids firearm safety, shouldn’t that be enough to protect them? Many parents feel that’s the case — focus groups show that parents who own firearms tend to believe that teaching their children firearm safety is more important than safely securing weapons, and that it ultimately decreases the need to secure them with safes and locks.

But, the truth is, researchers aren’t sure whether teaching firearm safety decreases injuries, while there is strong evidence that storing firearms securely — locked up, unloaded, and separate from ammunition — decreases the risk of injury for children and adolescents.

Gun control might be a hot-button issue. But at the end of the day, whether parents own a gun or not, the reasoning behind it is probably to protect your child. Demonstrating firearm safety is certainly a good thing, but taking the extra step to keep weapons locked up, with ammunition separate, is the best way to keep kids safe.