Child Access Prevention Research Articles

The impact of minimum age and child access prevention laws on firearm-related youth suicides and unintentional deaths

The aim of the present study is to quantify the association between child access prevention (CAP) and minimum age laws and state-level youth firearm-related suicide and unintentional death rates. This paper differs from prior research in several ways. First, this is one of the few studies to focus exclusively on youth death rates. Second, this study looks at those laws with the most impact on youth suicides and unintentional deaths. Finally, this study uses one of the largest and most recent data sets of any study on this topic. In order to estimate the determinants of youth firearm deaths, a fixed effects regression model, controlling for both state-level and year-specific effects, is used. Results indicate that state-level minimum age laws have no significant effects on either youth suicides or unintentional deaths and that state-level CAP laws have no significant effects on unintentional deaths. States with CAP laws, however, have lower rates of youth suicide, and, after the enactment of the Federal minimum age requirement, both youth suicide and unintentional death rates fell. Given the mixed results regarding state-level juvenile firearm laws, national restrictions on juvenile handgun possession may be more effective in reducing both youth suicides and unintentional deaths than state-level regulations.

State firearm laws, firearm ownership, and safety practices among families of preschool-aged children.

We investigated how state-level firearms legislation is associated with firearm ownership and storage among families with preschool-aged children. Using 2005 nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (n = 8100), we conducted multinomial regression models to examine the associations between state-level firearms legislation generally, child access prevention (CAP) firearms legislation specifically, and parental firearm ownership and storage safety practices. Overall, 8% of families with children aged 4 years living in states with stronger firearm laws and CAP laws owned firearms compared with 24% of families in states with weaker firearm laws and no CAP laws. Storage behaviors of firearm owners differed minimally across legislative contexts. When we controlled for family- and state-level characteristics, we found that firearm legislation and CAP laws interacted to predict ownership and storage behaviors, with unsafe storage least likely among families in states with both CAP laws and stronger firearm legislation. Broader firearm legislation is linked with the efficacy of child-specific legislation in promoting responsible firearm ownership.

Child Access Prevention Laws and Nonfatal Gun Injuries

Many states have passed child access prevention (CAP) laws, which hold the gun owner responsible if a child gains access to a gun that is not securely stored. Previous research on CAP laws has focused exclusively on gun‐related deaths even though most gun injuries are not fatal. We use annual hospital discharge data to investigate whether CAP laws are associated with decreased nonfatal gun injuries. Results from Poisson regressions that control for various hospital, county, and state characteristics, including state‐specific fixed effects and time trends, indicate that CAP laws are associated with reductions in nonfatal gun injuries among children under age 18. Our results are bolstered by the absence of effects on other outcomes such as self‐inflicted gun injuries among adults and nongun self‐inflicted injuries.

Mass Shootings in Schools

The most frequent policy lesson drawn following the Columbine school shootings was the need for more gun controls. Review of the details of both Columbine and other contemporary school shootings indicates, however, that the specific gun control measures proposed in their aftermath were largely irrelevant and almost certainly could not have prevented the incidents or reduced their death tolls. These measures included restrictions on gun shows, child access prevention laws mandating locking up guns, and bans on assault weapons. Ironically, exploitation of school shootings for the advocacy of irrelevant gun controls may have obscured the genuine merits of various gun control measures for reducing “ordinary” gun violence. Thus, mass school shootings provided the worst possible basis for supporting gun control.

The Effect of Child Access Prevention Laws on Unintentional Child Firearm Fatalities, 1979???2000

Unintentional firearm deaths among children have been declining steadily in the United States. This study investigates whether Child Access Prevention (CAP) laws are associated with this decline. Pooled cross-sectional time- series data (1979-2000) for 50 states and negative binomial regression methods were used to estimate the effect of Child Access Prevention laws on unintentional firearm deaths among children. Most states that enacted CAP laws experienced greater subsequent declines in the rate of unintentional firearm deaths for children age 0 to 14 compared with states not enacting the laws; however when adjusted for firearm prevalence and state and national effects the laws were associated with statistically significant declines only in Florida and California. In a comparison group of adults age 55 to 74, a group less likely to have young children in the home and thus less likely to be influenced by CAP laws, there was no indication that CAP laws affected unintentional firearm death rates. Unintentional firearm deaths are declining in the United States, with the rate for children under age 15 declining faster than adults. States that allowed felony prosecution of offenders experienced a greater effect of CAP laws than states that did not. CAP laws may have had some influence on the continued reduction in national death rates.

Risky Lifestyles and Unintentional Firearms Fatalities

This state-level study departs from other investigations of unintentional firearms fatalities by examining the relationships between lifestyle choices, legislation, and accidental gun deaths. We find that the source of these deaths is very similar to those for unintentional fatalities from other mechanisms, such as motor vehicle accidents, residential fires, or occupational injuries. Unintentional mortality is consistently associated with state-level indicators of risky behavior, and to a lesser extent, inactivity. Moreover, we also examined the influences of child access prevention (safe storage), overall firearms laws, and background checks on firearms fatalities. Unlike previous research, we found that these legislative initiatives were not significantly associated with reductions in accidental shooting deaths. Our findings suggest that theories about unintentional fatalities will remain incomplete and harm reduction policies, including the public health model endorsed by many scholars, will not be fully effective if the role of risktaking and sensation-seeking behaviors as an important source of these tragedies is neglected.

Risky Behavior, Juveniles, Guns, and Unintentional Firearms Fatalities

Risky behaviors contribute to a host of teenage misfortunes, including high rates of sexually transmitted diseases, teen pregnancies, and accidental deaths. This state-level study examines whether these behaviors also contribute to unintentional firearms fatalities in juvenile populations. Controlling for indicators of socioeconomic status, social disorganization, and the firearms density, the authors found that these unintentional deaths are consistently associated with state-level indicators of risky behavior. Accidental firearms deaths were also associated with rural populations as well as reductions in socioeconomic status. Also examined were the influences of child access prevention (safe storage), overall firearms laws, and background checks on firearms fatalities. Contrary to initial expectations, child access prevention laws were significantly associated with lower rates of unintentional firearms fatalities in the general population but were not associated with reductions in accidental firearms deaths in juvenile populations.

Association between youth-focused firearm laws and youth suicides.

Firearms are used in approximately half of all youth suicides. Many state and federal laws include age-specific restrictions on the purchase, possession, or storage of firearms; however, the association between these laws and suicides among youth has not been carefully examined. To evaluate the association between youth-focused firearm laws and suicides among youth. Quasi-experimental design with annual state-level data on suicide rates among US youth aged 14 through 20 years, for the period 1976-2001. Negative binomial regression models were used to estimate the association between state and federal youth-focused firearm laws mandating a minimum age for the purchase or possession of handguns and state child access prevention (CAP) laws requiring safe storage of firearms on suicide rates among youth. Association between youth-focused state and federal firearm laws and rates of firearm, nonfirearm, and total suicides among US youth aged 14 to 17 and 18 through 20 years. There were 63 954 suicides among youth aged 14 through 20 years during the 1976-2001 study period, 39 655 (62%) of which were committed with firearms. Minimum purchase-age and possession-age laws were not associated with statistically significant reductions in suicide rates among youth aged 14 through 20 years. State CAP laws were associated with an 8.3% decrease (rate ratio [RR], 0.92; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.86-0.98) in suicide rates among 14- to 17-year-olds. The annual rate of suicide in this age group in states with CAP laws was 5.97 per 100 000 population rather than the projected 6.51. This association was also statistically significant for firearm suicides (RR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.83-0.96) but not for nonfirearm suicides (RR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.91-1.10). CAP laws were also associated with a significant reduction in suicides among youth aged 18 through 20 years (RR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.85-0.93); however, the association was similar for firearm suicides (RR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.82-0.92) and nonfirearm suicides (RR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.85-0.98). There is evidence that CAP laws are associated with a modest reduction in suicide rates among youth aged 14 to 17 years. As currently implemented, minimum age restrictions for the purchase and possession of firearms do not appear to reduce overall rates of suicide among youth.

Reexamining the association between child access prevention gun laws and unintentional shooting deaths of children.

A previous study estimated that child access prevention (CAP) laws, which hold adults criminally liable for unsafe firearm storage in the environment of children, were associated with a 23% decline in unintentional firearm mortality rates among children. To reassess the effects of CAP laws and more fully examine the consistency of the estimated law effects across states. A pooled time-series study of unintentional firearm mortality among children from 1979 through 1997. Setting. The 50 states and the District of Columbia. All children <15 years. Rates of unintentional deaths attributable to firearms. When the effects of all 15 state CAP laws enacted before 1998 were aggregated, the laws were associated with a 17% decline unintentional firearm death rates among children. The laws' effects were not equal across states. Florida's CAP law was associated with a 51% decline; however, there were no statistically significant aggregate or state-specific law effects in the other 14 states with CAP laws. Florida's CAP law-1 of only 3 such laws allowing felony prosecution of violators-appears to have significantly reduced unintentional firearm deaths to children. However, there is no evidence of effects in the other 14 states with CAP laws.