Children and firearms in the home: a Southwestern Ohio Ambulatory Research Network (SOAR-Net) study.
BACKGROUND
To ascertain the prevalence of gun ownership, gun safety education, and parental attitudes on gun counseling in a Midwestern sample.


METHODS
Parents seeking care at participating practices in the Southwestern Ohio Ambulatory Research Network were recruited to complete a survey about gun ownership, gun safety education, and gun counseling attitudes. Attitudes and beliefs were compared between gun owners and non-gun owners.


RESULTS
Twenty-four percent of respondents had at least 1 gun in the home. Military families were more likely to own a gun than civilian families (28% vs 18%, P = .001). Fifty-two percent of sample children have received gun safety education. Eight percent indicated that a physician had asked about guns or discussed gun safety issues during an office visit. A majority of parents indicated that physicians should ask about guns in the home (69%) and advise parents on safe storage (75%), but they should not advise parents to remove guns from the home (12% of gun owners, 42% of non-gun owners).


CONCLUSIONS
Despite the morbidity and mortality associated with guns, physicians in this study do not seem to be addressing this risk with families. A majority of gun owners do not agree that physicians should counsel the removal of guns from the home but agree that they should discuss safe gun storage information.
Forbis
Shalini G
SG
Department of Pediatrics, Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, Dayton, OH 45404, USA. shalini.forbis@wright.edu
McAllister
Terence R
TR
Monk
Susan M
SM
Schlorman
Christopher A
CA
Stolfi
Adrienne
A
Pascoe
John M
JM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D001290:Attitude; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003376:Counseling / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005389:Firearms; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009820:Ohio; D010372:Pediatrics; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D012449:Safety