Guns and Kids: What is “Responsible Gun Ownership”?

A new study finds that teaching kids about safe gun practices may lead to risky firearm storage behaviors.

We’ve got to talk about kids’ access to guns. I know this is a charged issue. In this space, I often editorialize — I give my thoughts and impressions of a medical study with an understanding that reasonable discourse is still possible at least when it comes to healthcare.

But guns are different. Some of you may think an Associate Professor of Medicine and Public Health is a great person to discuss the gun issue, as it is firmly a medicine and public health problem. Some of you may think guns have absolutely nothing to do with either of my specialties and I should stay in my lane.

But I don’t want to avoid this. We don’t know all the details surrounding the most recent school shooting in Georgia, but we do know that the weapon used by the 14-year-old shooter had been in his home. Some reports suggest it was actually his gun, given to him as a gift from his father. And this week, we have some hard data on how gun owners with kids think about the relationship between kids and guns. Let’s try to figure this out.

I think the best thing I can do with this subject is stick to the facts as much as possible, and…