COLUMBUS, Ohio — A new study conducted by Nationwide Children’s Hospital gives more insight into accidental shootings among kids and what is causing them.
According to the study, most accidental shooting deaths that involve a child shooting another child involve boys, occur in the child’s home or at the home of a friend, and involve firearms that were stored loaded and unlocked.
“They're highly preventable and it really comes down to safe storage,” said Nichole Michaels, the senior author of the study and principal investigator in the Center for Injury Research and Policy.
She said the study looked at 279 accidental shootings in 33 states between 2009 and 2018. The study found that in 92% of the shootings, the guns were left loaded and unlocked.
"It's really important that adults take responsibility and make sure that we keep these firearms out of the hands of kids,” Michaels said.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advises that the safest home for a child is one without firearms. Researchers recommend families and caregivers take the following steps to reduce the risk of injuries related to accidental shootings:
- Store firearms safely. If removing firearms from the home is not an option, store firearms safely: unloaded, and locked away separately from ammunition.
- Ask about firearms. Before a child goes to a friend’s or relative’s house, parents and caregivers should ask: “My kid is pretty curious and our doctor recommended that I ask – is there an unlocked gun where he/she will play?” Most parents would be comfortable with being asked about a firearm in their home. Have these conversations before dropping a child off, the same way families would ask about pets in the home or certain foods if a child has allergies.
- Pediatricians and clinicians should include firearm safety in anticipatory guidance, similar to how they provide counseling on car seats and bike helmets. AAP recommends counseling parents on the dangers of firearms in the home and firearm safety. AAP emphasizes a harm-reduction approach, taking into consideration parental beliefs, values, and reasons for firearms ownership.
City Attorney issued a statement in regard to the study,
“We’ve seen the videos and heard the horror stories of children finding and discharging a loaded firearm in the home, injuring or killing themselves or others. Just this past week, we saw an Ohio toddler pick up a gun and accidentally shoot his pregnant mother, killing both her and the fetus.
“Now, a study conducted by Nationwide Children’s Hospital researchers confirms what we’ve known for a long time—nearly all accidental shootings involving minors are preventable with safe storage. That’s why it is so important that the City continues to educate the public about the importance of safe storage and to defend our right to enact commonsense requirements that the vast majority of parents and gun owners support.
“We need to make it easier for police and prosecutors to do their job, protect our children, and hold irresponsible gun owners accountable when their negligence threatens our kids’ lives. That begins with the State joining our efforts on safe storage or getting out of the way to let us do what they’ve failed to do for decades: keep our kids and communities safe.”