Hastings Katherine G, Carter Patrick M, Zimmerman Marc, Sokol Rebeccah
Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
JAMA Netw Open. 2025 Jun 2;8(6):e2514443. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.14443.
Firearm access increases fatal and nonfatal firearm injury risk among teens. Identifying parental firearm storage behaviors associated with teen access may inform efforts to prevent teen firearm injuries.
To examine the associations between parent-reported household firearm storage behaviors and teen perceived access to firearms.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cross-sectional study used national survey data of US firearm-owning parents and their teens (aged 14 to 18 years) surveyed between June and July 2020, with a response rate of 31% for parents and 21% for teens. Analyses were conducted January to May 2024.
The number of firearms stored in the household as (1) unlocked, (2) loaded, (3) unlocked and loaded, and (4) unlocked or loaded.
Teen perceived firearm access, overall and stratified by teen gender, parental education, and urbanicity. Survey-weighted logistic regression analyses assessed the associations between the number of firearms parents reported storing in each unsecured state (unlocked and loaded, unlocked, loaded, and unlocked or loaded) and teen perceived firearm access, overall and stratified by teen gender, parental education, and urbanicity (metropolitan vs nonmetropolitan). The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROC) were used to identify the firearm storage behaviors with the best ability to estimate teen perceived firearm access.
Analyses included 487 parent-teen dyad respondents. The mean (SE) ages of parents and teens were 46.6 (0.80) and 16.0 (0.12) years, respectively. Most parent respondents were male (58.1%; 95% CI, 50.3%-65.8%) and White (73.5%; 95% CI, 66.1%-80.9%), and most teen respondents were female (55.7%; 95% CI, 47.8%-63.6%) and White (69.5%; 95% CI, 61.8%-77.2%). All 4 unsecured firearm storage behaviors were associated with greater teen perceived firearm access (odds ratio [OR], 1.27-1.44; 95% CI, 0.99-2.10), but associations disappeared after restricting to those who stored at least 1 firearm unsecured (OR, 0.99-1.18; 95% CI, 0.67-1.89). The number of firearms stored unlocked performed the best in estimating teen perceived access to firearms in US households (AUROC, 65.7; 95% CI, 61.4-70.1), regardless of teen gender, parental education, and urbanicity. However, sensitivity of this measure was universally low (range, 42%-64%). Additionally, 36.3% (95% CI, 23.6%-49.0%) of teens reported access to a firearm in households where all firearms were stored locked and unloaded.
This study found that parent-reported firearm storage may be a poor estimator of teen perceived firearm access, regardless of teen gender, parental education, and urbanicity. Strictly focusing safety efforts on locked and unloaded firearm storage may not fully negate teen's perceptions that they can access and load household firearms. Storing additional firearms securely may not prevent teen access if at least 1 household firearm remains unlocked.
青少年获取枪支会增加其遭受致命和非致命枪支伤害的风险。识别与青少年获取枪支相关的家长枪支储存行为，可能有助于预防青少年枪支伤害。
研究家长报告的家庭枪支储存行为与青少年感知到的获取枪支机会之间的关联。
设计、背景和参与者：这项横断面研究使用了2020年6月至7月期间对美国拥有枪支的家长及其青少年（14至18岁）进行的全国性调查数据，家长的回复率为31%，青少年的回复率为21%。分析于2024年1月至5月进行。
家庭中储存的枪支数量，分为以下几种情况：（1）未上锁；（2）上膛；（3）未上锁且上膛；（4）未上锁或上膛。
青少年感知到的获取枪支机会，总体情况以及按青少年性别、家长教育程度和城市程度分层的情况。调查加权逻辑回归分析评估了家长报告的在每种不安全状态（未上锁且上膛、未上锁、上膛、未上锁或上膛）下储存的枪支数量与青少年感知到的获取枪支机会之间的关联，总体情况以及按青少年性别、家长教育程度和城市程度（大都市与非大都市）分层的情况。使用受试者工作特征曲线下面积（AUROC）来确定最能估计青少年感知到的获取枪支机会的枪支储存行为。
分析纳入了487对家长-青少年二元应答者。家长和青少年的平均（SE）年龄分别为46.6（0.80）岁和16.0（0.12）岁。大多数家长应答者为男性（58.1%；95%CI，50.3%-65.8%）且为白人（73.5%；95%CI，66.1%-80.9%），大多数青少年应答者为女性（55.7%；95%CI，47.8%-63.6%）且为白人（69.5%；95%CI，61.8%-77.2%）。所有4种不安全的枪支储存行为都与青少年更高的感知获取枪支机会相关（优势比[OR]，1.27 - 1.44；95%CI，0.99 - 2.10），但在仅纳入至少储存1支不安全枪支的人群后，关联消失（OR，0.99 - 1.18；95%CI，0.67 - 1.89）。在美国的家庭中，未上锁储存的枪支数量在估计青少年感知到的获取枪支机会方面表现最佳（AUROC，65.7；95%CI，61.4 - 70.1），无论青少年性别、家长教育程度和城市程度如何。然而，该指标的敏感性普遍较低（范围为42% - 64%）。此外，36.3%（95%CI，23.6% - 49.0%）的青少年报告在所有枪支都上锁且未上膛的家庭中有获取枪支的机会。
本研究发现，无论青少年性别、家长教育程度和城市程度如何，家长报告的枪支储存情况可能并不能很好地估计青少年感知到的获取枪支机会。将安全措施严格集中在枪支上锁且未上膛的储存方式上，可能无法完全消除青少年认为自己能够获取并装填家用枪支的认知。如果至少有1支家用枪支未上锁，额外安全储存枪支可能无法防止青少年获取枪支。
