Nearly Half Don’t Store Guns Safely, Poll Finds

Nearly half of the gun-owning households in Los Angeles County with children under 18 do not store guns safely, the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services announced Tuesday.

A department-sponsored telephone survey found that 45% of those gun owners don’t lock the weapons in a cabinet or other firearm container. About 114,000 children live in those homes.

“These findings are of concern and it suggests a need for more education,” said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, director of public health.

Fielding said the figures are minimum estimates due to underreporting of gun ownership. Based on national surveys, the actual percentage of unsafe storage could be much higher, he said.

Data from 1999 show that 19% of deaths of people under the age of 20 in the county were by gunshot. “We’re significantly higher than the national average,” which is 12%, Fielding said.

“Certainly safe storage practices won’t reduce that to zero, but it will reduce the preventable deaths,” he said.

The county recommends that guns be locked up unloaded, with ammunition kept separately.

About 8,000 households were randomly selected for the survey, which examined a wide range of health issues. This was the first time that specific questions about gun storage were included.