Attitudes toward physician-provided gun safety counselling among current and prospective gun owners in the USA

Background: Americans increasingly perceive that homes with guns are safer than those without, and physician counselling about in-home firearm safety and injury risks occurs infrequently, despite encouragement from major medical organisations (eg, American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics). Safety counselling that does occur may be limited to gun owners at high risk of injury; however, given the increasing rates of first-time gun ownership in the USA, understanding attitudes toward firearms and firearm safety messaging among persons who may become firearm owners is needed to inform and support continued injury prevention efforts.

Methods: Survey data from a cross-section of firearm owners (n=396) and non-owners (n=551) collected in February 2023 was used to examine differences in perceptions about the safety of firearm households, openness toward firearm safety counselling and comfort with law enforcement compared with physician firearm safety discussions.

Results: Over three-quarters of current and possible future gun owners agreed that firearms make homes safer, compared with just over one-third of non-owners. All three groups favoured law enforcement over physicians for firearm safety messengers and were more comfortable speaking with law enforcement than physicians about firearm safety.

Discussion and conclusion: Public health and injury prevention safety counselling that combines messaging from law enforcement and medical perspectives may be similarly accessible for both current firearm owners and those considering owning firearms in the future.