Safe Storage of Handguns

OBJECTIVE: To ascertain the specific suggestions that local police departments in the United States give to parents who ask for advice about methods to safely store handguns. METHODS: A cross-sectional, semistructured telephone survey was administered to a sample of 102 police departments in the United States in cities with populations of 10,000 or more, selected within blocks of cities of similar population size. An investigator, posing as a parent of 3-year-old and 10-year-old children, called departments seeking specific advice on how to safely store a handgun acquired for protection. RESULTS: Usable responses were generated for 93 (91%) of the departments sampled. Only 3 departments (3.2%) refused to give advice over the telephone. The most commonly suggested storage methods were trigger locks (55 departments 59%), portable lockboxes for handguns (48 52%), and the separation of guns from ammunition (30 32%). Seven percent of departments suggested removing the gun from the household. Over half of those suggesting trigger locks and lockboxes considered these devices safe (35 64% for trigger locks and 27 56% for lockboxes) and yet rapidly accessible to an adult (36 65% for trigger locks and 36 75% for lockboxes). Responding police officers most commonly reported using the following storage methods at home: no storage method (31 38%), portable lockboxes (23 28%), out-of-reach location (11 13%), separation of gun and ammunition (10 12%), and trigger locks (5 6%). CONCLUSIONS: Trigger locks are frequently recommended but infrequently used by police themselves at home. Portable lockboxes are frequently recommended as well as used by police.