Gun Sales in Homes With Teens Rose During Pandemic

THURSDAY, Aug. 5, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. weapon income accrued aboriginal successful the COVID-19 pandemic, and galore of those firearms ended up successful homes with teens, researchers say.

"This uncovering is concerning due to the fact that we cognize that the azygous biggest hazard origin for teen firearm injuries is entree to an unsecured firearm," said survey co-author Dr. Patrick Carter. He is co-director of the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention astatine the University of Michigan, successful Ann Arbor.

A nationalist survey of superior caretakers of teenagers recovered that 10% of those households bought a weapon betwixt March and July of 2020, and 3% became first-time weapon owners. The survey was conducted by the Firearm Safety Among Children and Teens (FACTS) Consortium.

In homes that already had a gun, caller guns were much apt to beryllium bought by those who already reported storing astatine slightest 1 weapon unlocked and loaded, according to the study.

It's not wide what prompted the summation successful weapon buying identified successful the survey, but it raises concerns, the researchers said.

"This survey demonstrates that we person much enactment to bash to assistance families that already person firearms, oregon whitethorn acquisition caller firearms, to trim the imaginable risks to their children by promoting safer retention practices that assistance to trim the hazard of teen firearm wounded and death," Carter said successful a schoolhouse quality release.

Each year, astir 50 retired of each 100,000 U.S. precocious school-age teens are injured by guns and 10 retired of each 100,000 are killed. Teens successful that property radical are much apt to dice from a weapon wounded than immoderate different cause, the researchers added.

There was nary relation betwixt the mental health presumption of parents oregon teens and the likelihood of buying a gun. However, 1 successful 7 (14%) of the households that bought a weapon successful the aboriginal months of the COVID-19 pandemic besides had a teen with depression symptoms, according to the survey.

The survey findings person important implications for nationalist health. The results were published online precocious successful the Journal of Behavioral Medicine.

Study co-author Marc Zimmerman, co-director of the Firearm Injury Prevention Institute, said, "If we cognize that families are storing firearms unsafely and that a definite magnitude of them person teens who are experiencing depression, that tin pass however we would tailor messaging astir harmless retention to families astatine accrued risk."

More information

The American Academy of Pediatrics has much connected guns successful the home.

SOURCE: University of Michigan, quality release, July 30, 2021