Stemming the United States’ spate of gun violence begins at home. But a recent study from the University of Washington indicates that about two-thirds of gun owners in the state do not properly secure their weapons.
Part of a well-regulated gun culture is that gun owners act responsibly both in private and in public. That includes not leaving loaded weapons lying around the house within reach of family members, children or burglars. Too many Washington residents are falling short of that duty, helping to exacerbate the state’s suicide rate and the use of stolen guns in other crimes.
According to a 2016 phone survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 34 percent of Washington households reported a firearm in the home. Among those, only one-third indicated that they properly secure and store the weapon when it is not in use. While the accuracy of a phone survey can be questioned, the implications are clear; unsecured weapons are an invitation for tragedy.
According to Everytown, a gun-violence prevention advocacy group, there have been at least 73 accidental shootings by children this year in the United States. “Research shows that nearly 2 million American children live in homes with guns that are not stored responsibly, as defined by the American Academy of Pediatrics — locked and unloaded, stored separately from ammunition,” the organization reports. “Every year, hundreds of American children gain access to irresponsibly stored firearms and unintentionally shoot themselves or someone else.”
This is not an anomaly. Data from recent years indicate that accidental shootings by young children are a weekly occurrence. Most recently, on May 22 in Virginia, a 4-year-old found a gun in a cabinet and, mistaking it for a toy, fatally shot his 2-year-old brother. The same day, also in Virginia, a 2-year-old fatally shot himself. Statistics show that family members and acquaintances are more likely to be shot than strangers.
Accidental shootings, however, are not the only danger created by unsecured weapons. There are more than 30,000 firearm deaths in the United States each year, and more than half of those are suicides. According to Erin Morgan, lead author of the University of Washington study, “Access to lethal means is part of what’s fueling suicides.” In Washington, researchers say, firearms are the leading method of suicide among men and the second-most common among women.
Preventing easy access to a loaded gun in the home could go a long way toward reducing suicides. It could give the despondent person time to reconsider their intentions and could provide others with time to intervene. It also could reduce the lethality of rash actions; researchers say that 95 percent of suicide attempts with a gun are fatal, while suicide attempts by poisoning, the second most common method, are successful 6 percent of the time.
Meanwhile, leaving a gun unsecured also can lead to other crimes. Guns used in violent crime often are traced back to a burglary.
All of this goes back to the issue of responsibility. Gun-rights advocates often assert that proposed gun-control measures amount to punishing the good guys with guns because of what bad guys do with guns. But that trope loses its effectiveness when the good guys act irresponsibly.
The level of gun violence in this country is abhorrent and should be anathema to a civilized society. One step toward curbing that violence begins in the home.
