From: Parental attitudes, beliefs, and practices related to firearm storage: a qualitative study
Theme | Representative Quotations |
---|---|
Firearm storage must be compatible with a specific context of use | I do not need a side arm for protection in my home, and therefore it’s very easy for me to basically break this thing [the firearm] down into … less hazardous parts, but … there are people who keep handguns more readily available |
[quotation from participant who kept firearm for self-defense] It’s timing, because literally the safe that’s next to my bed is within my arm’s reach | |
Some parents engage in higher-risk storage because they believe it is adequate to reduce risk of injury | [quotation from participant who kept an unlocked, unloaded firearm] I felt that it was safe enough … Is it perfect? No, certainly could we put a gun safe some place in the house, I guess |
Not owning one is probably the best way [to keep children safe from injury] … If you're going to have them in the house, I think a specifically designed safe … is the next best thing | |
Firearm practices are influenced by one’s social network and lived experience | Safe practice, informing your children, begets safe practice. That’s how my father was. He was very responsible. I shot weapons from the time I was six years old |
I did eight years in the Marine Corps and I pretty much carry on that, the safety aspect for the firearms in my personal life | |
Parents who own firearms owners may be amenable to changing storage practices | When I was 21, I didn’t have children … My pistols were in the drawer, which weren’t locked … But when I started living with—me and [my partner], we came together, and then we had our daughter, [and] it was like, “Okay, things have gotta change. They don’t need to be on display … They need to be safe.” |
She [my wife] goes, “You know I wouldn’t mind if you bought another safe to keep all the ammunition separate.” I was like, you know, that’s actually not an awful idea now that I think about it | |
Currently, there's no purpose for it. We don't use it. It's like, get rid of it | |
Parents’ conceptualization of firearm injury prevention is multimodal, involving safer storage, education, and legislation | Well, storing them locked is the primary means of ensuring safety, right? If you can’t access the firearms, you cannot use them. Then having them … unloaded is just a double lock and key-type measure. It’s kind of redundant |
She knows at six years old her basic rules of gun safety, which is … If you see a gun, run away and get an adult | |
Controlling who can have them [firearms] with better background check situations |