Rocky Mountain MIRECC, Denver VA Medical Center, Denver, Colorado; Division of Hospital Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Colorado, Aurora, Colorado.
Harvard Injury Control Research Center, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.
Am J Prev Med. 2018 Oct;55(4):445-454. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2018.04.014. Epub 2018 Aug 27.
Interventions that reduce access to highly lethal and commonly used methods of suicide (e.g., limiting firearm access) are considered essential elements of effective suicide prevention programs. Scant epidemiologic data are available to inform such efforts among Veterans. The aim of this study is to describe firearm storage practices and correlates of those practices among a nationally representative sample of U.S. Veteran firearm owners.
The authors used a probability-based online survey of Veteran firearm owners in 2015 (data analyzed in 2017; 54.6% response rate). The primary outcome was firearm storage practices. Additional items assessed individual and household-level sociodemographic characteristics, firearm-related characteristics, and risk perceptions related to firearm ownership.
One in three (33.3%, 95% CI=28.6%, 38.4%) Veteran firearm owners stores at least one firearm loaded and unlocked. The prevalence of this practice ranges substantially (9%-65%) across individual, household, and firearm ownership characteristics, and is strongly related to other firearm-related behaviors (e.g., carrying handguns); reasons for firearm ownership (e.g., protection versus other); number of firearms owned; and perceptions about the utility of guns stored safely and whether guns make homes safer.
Storing a firearm loaded and unlocked is common among Veterans. Storage practices are strongly related to reasons for ownership and potentially malleable perceptions including beliefs about firearm-related risks. Suicide prevention initiatives among Veterans should incorporate communication strategies that address common misperceptions about household firearm risk and whether safe storage practices may better align with reasons most Veterans own firearms (i.e., safety)-especially when someone in their home is at increased risk for suicide.
减少获取高致命性和常用自杀方法（例如限制枪支获取）的干预措施被认为是有效预防自杀计划的重要组成部分。在退伍军人中，很少有流行病学数据可用于为这些努力提供信息。本研究的目的是描述美国退伍军人枪支拥有者中枪支储存做法及其相关因素。
作者于 2015 年使用基于概率的退伍军人枪支拥有者在线调查（于 2017 年进行数据分析；响应率为 54.6%）。主要结局是枪支储存做法。其他项目评估了个人和家庭层面的社会人口统计学特征、枪支相关特征以及与枪支拥有相关的风险认知。
三分之一（33.3%，95%置信区间[CI]：28.6%，38.4%）的退伍军人枪支拥有者至少有一把枪支存放且未上锁。这种做法的流行率在个人、家庭和枪支拥有特征方面差异很大（9%-65%），且与其他枪支相关行为（例如携带手枪）密切相关；拥有枪支的原因（例如保护与其他）；拥有的枪支数量；以及对安全储存枪支的效用和枪支是否使家庭更安全的看法。
在退伍军人中，将枪支存放且未上锁是很常见的。储存做法与拥有枪支的原因密切相关，并且可能与潜在的可改变的认知相关，包括对与枪支相关的风险的误解。退伍军人的预防自杀计划应纳入沟通策略，以解决与家庭枪支风险有关的常见误解，以及安全储存做法是否更符合大多数退伍军人拥有枪支的原因（即安全）-尤其是当家中有人自杀风险增加时。
