Welcome!
Feb. 1, 2025

Firearm Storage & Safety

The player is loading ...
Health Chatter
Firearm Storage & Safety
Apple Podcasts podcast player icon Spotify podcast player icon Castro podcast player icon RSS Feed podcast player icon
Apple Podcasts podcast player icon Spotify podcast player icon Castro podcast player icon RSS Feed podcast player icon

Stan, Clarence, Barry, and the Health Chatter team chat with Dr. Thomas E. Kottke, Kathleen Anderson, & Thea Williams about firearm storage and safety.

Dr. Thomas E. Kottke is the medical director for well-being at HealthPartners, a professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota, and a health services researcher at the HealthPartners Institute. With a background in internal medicine, cardiology, and public health, his work focuses on preventive care and community well-being.

Kathleen Anderson is a clinical social worker, mother of three, and a volunteer educator with Be SMART, a national campaign dedicated to promoting secure firearm storage. Through education and advocacy, she helps raise awareness about the role safe storage plays in preventing accidental shootings, suicides, and gun theft.

Thea Williams works at Hennepin County Medical Center, supporting families who have lost a loved one to firearm violence. She oversees multiple community outreach programs connected to the Next Step Program, a hospital-based violence intervention initiative. Her work includes managing the Monthly Women’s Group, the Harriet Initiative, and the Summer Basketball program, all aimed at fostering healing and community engagement.

Join us for an insightful discussion on firearm safety, the importance of secure storage, and practical steps to help protect families and communities.

Join the conversation at healthchatterpodcast.com

Brought to you in support of Hue-MAN, who is Creating Healthy Communities through Innovative Partnerships.

More about their work can be found at huemanpartnership.org.

Research

Quick Stats

  • 1 in 3 children in the US live in a home with a gun.
  • Firearms are now the leading cause of death in children and youth under the age of 25. 
  • In 2021, 48,830 people died from firearms. That’s more than 130 people each day
  • Roughly once every day in the United States, a child under the age of 18 gains access to a loaded gun and unintentionally shoots themself or someone else. 
  • More than three-quarters (77%) of the annual deaths from firearms in Minnesota each year are suicides; the national average is 60%.
  • In homes that keep firearms and ammunition safely stored away from each other, children and teens have an 85% lower risk of unintentional injuries or death compared to those that don’t.
  • Gun owners can make their homes and communities safer through secure gun storage.
  • More than ¾ of school shooters acquire their firearms from the home of a parent or close relative

The problem

  • More than half of all U.S. gun owners store firearms unlocked. Responsible gun ownership is not only about how, where, and when a person uses their firearm; it’s also about how they store it when not in use. 
  • An estimated 82% of adolescent firearm suicides involve a gun belonging to a family member. 
  • 80% of school shooters under 18 access a firearm from their own home or that of a relative or friend.
  • There are an estimated 250,000 gun theft incidents each year resulting in about 380,000 guns stolen annually. 
  • Multiple studies have found that Child Access Prevention laws are associated with statistically significant reductions in teen suicides and unintentional injuries among children.
  • A systematic review of behavioral interventions to promote safe firearm storage found that behavioral interventions, like lethal means safety counseling, that also provided individuals with a gun safety device significantly improved safe storage practices.
  • SUICIDE: Far too often someone in crisis gains access to a family member’s firearm that is left unlocked. Suicide is a public health crisis and firearms are the most lethal suicide method. The gun suicide rate has steadily increased, nearly uninterrupted, since 2006.  
  • THEFT: Hundreds of thousands of guns are stolen from homes and cars each year, helping to fuel high rates of gun violence across the country, disproportionately impacting communities of color.  
  • UNINTENTIONAL SHOOTINGS: Access to unsecured firearms increases the risk of unintentional injury and death by firearm. Children are often impacted by unintentional firearm injuries by gaining access to an unsecured firearm owned by a parent.  

The Solution

  • Safely storing firearms can reduce gun injuries and deaths, and is supported by researchers, healthcare professionals, and gun owners alike. 
  • Research has demonstrated a decreased risk for suicide among adolescents when guns are stored safely. 
  • Safe and secure storage practices help prevent guns from being stolen, diverted into illegal markets and used in gun crime.  Gun owners have a responsibility to store their guns safely, wherever they may take them, to prevent these thefts.

What qualifies as a secure gun storage or safety device?

  1. A device that, when installed on a firearm, is designed to prevent the firearm from being operated without first deactivating the device;
  2.  A device incorporated into the design of the firearm that is designed to prevent the operation of the firearm by anyone not having access to the device; or
  3. A safe, gun safe, gun case, lock box, or other device that is designed to be or can be used to store a firearm and that is designed to be unlocked only by means of a key, a combination, or other similar means.
  4. Zip ties, rope, and string do not meet this definition.

Be SMART is a framework that parents, caretakers, and community leaders can follow to help keep their communities safe. 

Secure all guns in your home and vehicles

Model responsible behavior around guns

Ask about unsecured guns in other homes

Recognize the role of guns in suicide

Tell your peers to Be SMART

Where to go from here:

  • Awareness
  • Education
  • Further research → Firearm owners prefer gun safes relative to cable locks and trigger locks, indicating that locking device distribution programs may not match firearm owners’ preferences. Broad implementation of secure firearm storage may require addressing disproportionate fears of home intruders and increasing awareness of the risks associated with household firearm access.

Sources

https://www.atf.gov/firearms/qa/what-qualifies-secure-gun-storage-or-safety-device

https://publichealth.jhu.edu/center-for-gun-violence-solutions/solutions/safe-and-secure-gun-storage

https://besmartforkids.org/

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2801915

  • Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Center for Injury Research

                and Prevention: Counseling on Gun Safety in the Home.

                Visit: violence.chop.edu/types-violence/gun-violence/counseling-gun-safety-home

  • The BulletPoints Project: A resource for clinicians and medical educators who are committed to firearm injury prevention

               Visit: www.bulletpointsproject.org