NCJ Number
170970
Journal
Journal of the American Medical Association Volume: 275 Issue: 22 Dated: (June 12, 1996) Pages: 1744-1748
Date Published
1998
Length
5 pages
Annotation
A telephone survey of 6,202 Oregon adults ages 18 years and older collected information on the exposure of adults and children to loaded and unlocked household firearms and to estimate the prevalence of firearm carrying among adults in the State.
Abstract
The survey was conducted in 1992 and 1993. Results revealed that 10 percent of adults (197,400 persons) lived in households with firearms that were always or sometimes stored loaded and unlocked. An estimated 6.2 percent of households with children had firearms that were loaded and unlocked; about 40,000 children lived in these households. Overall, 4.4 percent of adults carried loaded firearms in the past month. Rural residency, male, and having less than a college education were associated with living in a household with loaded and unlocked firearms and with firearm carrying. Drinking 5 or more alcoholic beverages on 1 or more occasions in the last month or 60 or more alcoholic beverages was independently associated with living in households with loaded and unlocked firearms. Findings indicated that many Oregon adults and children are exposed to unsafely stored firearms. Findings suggested the need for standard questions and national, State, and local data collection to monitor firearm storage and carrying. Tables and 67 references (Author abstract modified)