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The described study reports nurses' opinions about assessing patients' access to firearms. Themes emerged related to nurses' needs, nurses' involvement, and the sensitivity of the topic. Nurses may have a role in curbing gun violence through assessment of safe gun storage.
Gun violence is a preventable public health crisis (Cox, 2018). In 2020, 45,222 people were killed by firearms in America; 24,292 of these deaths were suicide, 19,384 were homicide, and 535 were unintentional (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d.). America ranks first among 178 countries in the number of privately owned firearms (Richmond & Foman, 2019, p. 230) and "has the highest rate of gun-related mortality among industrialized nations" (Nelson, 2017, p. 18).
Access to firearms is associated with higher rates of suicide, homicide, accidental deaths, domestic violence (violence against children, partners, parents, older adults) and intimate partner violence (violence within a close relationship) (Anestis & Houtsma, 2018; Duncan et al., 2020; Feigelman et al., 2020). Although self-protection is cited frequently as a reason for owning a firearm (DeMello et al., 2020), inhome firearm-related deaths are more frequently the result of suicide or criminal homicide than selfprotection homicide (Butler et al., 2020).
An unsecured firearm in the home significantly increases the risk of suicide and unintentional death for children and adolescents (Azrael et al., 2018). There is potential for children to shoot themselves or someone else accidentally, and adolescents may use a firearm impulsively to end their life. Miller and Azrael (2022) found 30 million children live in households with firearms, representing an increase of 7 million firearms since a similar survey in 2015 (Azrael et al., 2018). The concern with unsecured firearms in the home is easy access, which may increase risk of harm for those visiting or living in the home. Because safe gun storage in the home can reduce the increased risk of intentional and unintentional injury (Warner, 2022), gun owners logically should be taught safe storage options.
Medical-surgical nurses care for patients who may have firearms at home. If a patient is involved in a difficult intimate partner relationship or the patient is a parent of a depressed adolescent contemplating suicide, and firearms are accessible in the home, teaching safe gun storage (SGS) options could save a life....