Newly published research is revealing key principles that the firearm industry already understands to be foundational in the conversation about safe and responsible firearm ownership and storage.
A study published in the Sage Journal reveals that “state-level secure gun storage laws have little influence on gun owners’ use of mechanisms to securely store their firearms.”
It turns out, despite the repeated calls by gun control activists who continue to shout from the mountaintops, demanding mandatory gun storage laws and browbeating gun owners into submission isn’t an effective method of reducing firearm tragedies.
The Wrong Messenger
Gun control activists, like Brady United President Kris Brown, never seem to miss the opportunity to regurgitate the talking points that mandatory gun storage laws are an effective way to reduce firearm tragedies. Just a few years ago, Brown celebrated the Virginia Senate for passing a mandatory gun storage law.
“This sensible and evidence-based [emphasis added] safe storage legislation addresses the issue of family fire, where unsecured firearms in homes lead to devastating consequences…,” Brown said. That particular bill wasn’t enacted — then-Gov. Glenn Youngkin didn’t sign it. But it was reintroduced earlier this year, passed again as part of a larger gun control package and signed into law by new Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger.
“This slate of gun violence prevention bills will be an enormous step forward to hold the gun industry accountable, ban untraceable ghost guns disproportionately used in crime, and normalize responsible firearm ownership [emphasis added] in Virginia,” Brown stated in a press release.
Gov. Spanberger reiterated her belief in the effectiveness of the mandatory gun storage law as well, adding, “This is why I’ve made amendments to provide clarity for both responsible gun owners and law enforcement, making clear what these changes mean in practice — as Virginians safely purchase and store their firearms (emphasis added).”
Virginia certainly isn’t alone. After enacting its mandatory gun storage laws, the Commonwealth joined California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, Hawaii, Oregon and Massachusetts as states with similar laws.
What’s the Research Say?
No surprises here, but law-abiding gun owners don’t take well to bureaucratic demands that leave them defenseless, not to mention the constitutional questions surrounding such laws.
The new research published in the Sage Journal refutes the entire premise of the argument from gun control activists like Brown, Gov. Spanberger and all others who claim their laws work. In short, they don’t.
One problem is the old research that went into the “evidence-based” (see Brown’s remark above) research touted by gun control groups is just that — old.
“Much of the research in this area [gun storage] is either dated, limited in scope, or has neglected to directly assess important theoretical predictors of secure firearm storage,” the study’s abstract states.
But the findings of this newer research make an even more definitive statement about the behaviors of gun owners and how they approach storing their firearms. Education and training are better predictors of safe and responsible firearm storage than state-level laws.
“Gun owners who received formal, informal, or both forms of safety training were more likely to report using a secure mechanism of firearm storage than those who were untrained. In fact, gun safety training was the strongest predictor of secure firearm storage, with findings revealing those who received both formal and informal gun safety training were more than 6 times as likely to store their firearms securely than those who were untrained,” the study’s findings revealed.
“Another interesting finding from analyses was that having a state law requiring secure firearm storage was unrelated to gun owners’ storing their weapons securely,” the study repeated in the Discussion section. “This confirms findings in prior research and suggests that policymakers should focus on other mechanisms to promote secure firearm storage.”
News to Celebrate
With the recent findings in the Sage Journal report comes even more good news for everyone. The growing and diverse population of law-abiding gun owners — which has conservatively grown by the population size of Florida over the past few years — is becoming more consistently safe and responsible in their firearm storage practices.
“As compared to prior research, our estimate of secure firearm storage is much higher, with nearly two in three gun owners in our sample reporting using a gun lock or gun safe for their firearm(s) when not in use. Our findings also revealed that most gun owners receive some form of safety training with their firearms,” the study revealed.
And the kicker?
“The results from our multivariable model show that the strongest predictors of secure firearm storage were completing a form of gun safety training, either formal or informal, demonstrating that gun safety training and secure firearm storage are interconnected. Together, these findings suggest that most gun owners in the United States are well-versed in firearm safety practices and store their guns securely when they are not using them [emphasis added],” the study continued.
In sum, America has never before in history had such a large and diverse gun-owning population, and that community is increasingly safer and more responsible with their firearm storage practices than ever before. That’s not because of state gun storage laws or mandates, but because of training and education.
Real Solutions
This is what the firearm industry’s Real Solutions. Safer Communities. initiative is all about. It’s what we’ve spent decades practicing and passing along to fellow gun owners, new and old, as the most impactful and effective way to reduce unintended firearm tragedies.
NSSF President and CEO Joe Bartozzi told as much to Congress a few years ago when testifying about safe and responsible firearm storage. At a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled “Stop Gun Violence: Safe Storage”, Bartozzi respectfully rebutted the idea that storage laws — those which impose penalties after a tragedy — had an impact.
“What we’re talking about here, from NSSF’s perspective, is a proactive approach to educating people. Many of these proposed laws would only come into effect after a tragedy has occurred.” Bartozzi continued, “It is more important to prevent a tragedy than to deal with the pieces afterwards.”
Bartozzi added, “The messenger matters. My concern here is that gun owners will tune out the message if it’s coming from the government…We know from our experiences… that the audience is more likely to respond to the message if the messenger has credibility, experience and has earned the trust of the audience.”
This is why NSSF has invested so heavily in education resources about safe and responsible firearm storage, including Project ChildSafe. For more than two decades, Project ChildSafe has promoted firearm safety and education by partnering with firearm retailers and more than 15,000 local law enforcement agencies in every state across the country to provide education materials and free firearm safety kits. This includes handing out more than 42 million gun cable locking devices free of charge, no questions asked.
Gun owners can be safe and responsible with their firearms on their own. The data shows they are practicing safe ownership now. What they don’t need are more laws.
Matt Manda is Manager, Public Affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation.