Also be sure to ask your pediatrician about the status of their liability insurance should following their advice lead to tragedy, since by assuming this role of caretaker they also assume legal culpability if that advice causes harm.
Posted on 06/04/2007 4:16:48 AM PDT by Pharmboy
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Few families store their firearms safely, according to a pediatric researcher at Brenner Children's Hospital, part of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. Robert H. DuRant, Ph.D., and his colleagues' research study results are published in the June issue of Pediatrics.
"Over 70 percent of the families surveyed reported not storing their firearms safely in their residence," DuRant said. "This concerns us a great deal because having guns in the home increases the likelihood that they will be used in a suicide or unintentional injury. It's imperative that parents understand the necessity of storing guns safely in the home."
Storage patterns are most influenced by firearm type, family socialization with guns and the age of the child, DuRant said.
"Our research shows that unsafe gun storage is associated with families who were raised with guns in the home," he said. "They tend to be more comfortable with guns and are less likely to store them safely. We also found that families who had children aged 2 to 5 years and owned long guns were more likely to store guns safely than families with older children."
"Our primary recommendation is that parents should remove guns from the home," DuRant said. "However, if parents are unwilling to do that, they should lock all guns with gun locks and store them separately from ammunition."
Firearm ownership was highest in families with two adults in the home, according to the study. Families in rural areas are more likely to own long guns and families who own long guns only are more likely to store guns unlocked but store ammunition separately from guns. Families who owned hand guns were more likely to store the guns locked but to have the guns loaded.
"We are encouraging all pediatricians to talk with parents about safe gun storage practices," he said. "We want to prevent unnecessary deaths."
DuRant and colleagues administered the survey to 3,745 parents in 96 pediatric offices in 45 states, Puerto Rico and Canada. The offices were part of the Pediatric Research in Office Settings group. The survey measured family history of guns in the house, firearm types, storage behaviors and ownership.
### In addition to DuRant, Shari Barkin, M.D., Edward H. Ip, Ph.D., from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center; Joseph A. Craig, M.D. from Rocky Mountain Youth Clinics in Denver, Colorado, Victoria A. Weiley, M.I.S., from the American Academy of Pediatrics and Richard C. Wasserman, M.D., M.P.H., from the University of Vermont, also participated in the study.
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Media Contacts: Rae Bush, rbush@wfubmc.edu, or Karen Richardson, krchrdsn@wfubmc.edu, at (336) 716-4587.
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is an academic health system comprised of North Carolina Baptist Hospital, Wake Forest University Health Sciences and Brenner Children's Hospital. The system comprises 1,238 acute care, rehabilitation, psychiatry and long-term care beds and is consistently ranked as one of "America's Best Hospitals" by U.S. News & World Report.
ILMAO! I actually do know where the keys are to my trigger locks, I just don't know which key is which. Someday when the kids aren't around, I will get the guns down and figure it out so I can hide them again and forget what I did with them.
“Children raised with guns, taught how to safely use guns, clean and maintain guns, and respect guns will do just that.”
Exactly. When I was a teen, we all brought our guns to school, unloaded and locked in the trunk of the car, along with our hunting jackets and boots. The MINUTE school let out, we had 2-3 hours of daylight left for hunting. (Hunting what? Depended upon the season.) Why waste time going back home to get your gun before heading out to the field? We all had poles and tackle boxes, too. Ooooo! Someone could get hurt with a sharp fish hook! The horrors! Guns are TOOLS, just like a fishing pole.
Never a shot fired at my rather large high school. And no one ever even THOUGHT to bring a gun to a fistfight; that would be cheatin’! ;)
This article is propaganda, plain and simple.
And a backyard pool is ten-times more dangerous.
Accidental deaths in Arizona for children, 2000-2003
‘>> “Our primary recommendation is that parents should remove guns from the home,”
Ah, so. Now he stops beating around the bush and gets to his point.’
No doubt that was the whole point of this “research”.
Of course it is...........but read who funded the "study." None other than our favorite nanny-state propagandists, Robert Woods johnson Foundaton.
“Over 70 percent of the families surveyed reported not storing their firearms safely in their residence,” DuRant said.
Well then, where are the piles of corpses? They contend that this causes death and injury so where are the dead and injured?
Absolutely -- the funders of this "study" are major gun-grabbers.
Also be sure to ask your pediatrician about the status of their liability insurance should following their advice lead to tragedy, since by assuming this role of caretaker they also assume legal culpability if that advice causes harm.
Still Thinking says researchers don't get to define "safe firearm storage" and pretend it's news that the rest of us don't jump to comply, just like MADD doesn't get to push the govt to lower legal BAL levels then use the "drastic increase in drunk driving" as fodder for fund-raising.
What’s the word I’ve seen used? “Hopolophobe’? An irrational fear of inanimate objects.
I had a medium sharp interchange with a pediatrician over this issue about 5 years ago. I don’t think he liked me accusing the practice of a (professional) boundary violation, in asking the question they were asking, nor my pointing out their lack of training in general household safety.
I like it!!!!
Twenty-two years ago, I greeted a burglar entering my home and I had no weapons in hand. I wound up with his knife (actually a bayonet) stuck in my shoulder. Ever since, I investigate all nighttime noises with a 12 gage in hand.
>>What’s the word I’ve seen used? “Hopolophobe’? An irrational fear of inanimate objects.
It’s an irrational fear of weapons, coined I believe by the inimitable Jeff Cooper. If you haven’t read Cooper’s Commentaries, you should.
Hoplos is a Greek word meaning arms and armor, and is the root from which hoplite, the Greek term for a heavy infantryman, is derived.
See my post after yours, just above.
When I was in HS we were allowed to bring guns and ammo to school on the school bus as long as they were broke down and in a case. ( that pretty much limited you to single shots and doubles).
We could then store them in our locker until after school.
We were allowed to hunt ON school property ( they had several hundred acres ) as long as we were back away from the buildings a safe distance.
Great pheasant hunting in southern Michigan back then.
“We are encouraging all pediatricians to talk with parents about safe gun storage practices,” he said. “We want to prevent unnecessary deaths.”
LOL!! I bet The American Rifleman’s (hypothetical) article on ear infections would have less bias than the ped article on guns...
Remember Waco, it was about protecting the children. Their deaths were caused by the government. Perfectly acceptable./Extreme S
Forget the bias, it would most likely actually be more factual.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.