GWINN, Michigan—Dustin Milner, a local outdoorsman, has fond memories of visiting Little Lake in the heart of the Upper Peninsula with his family for hunting season every fall.
They’d sit in a camper, tell hunting stories and enjoy the time together in their home away from home. And everyone knew from childhood about how to behave around firearms.
In rural areas across Michigan, residents have long owned firearms for hunting and to protect themselves and their homes, and there’s a distinct culture around it.
“My kids know that if there’s a firearm anywhere around, they don’t touch them. Most hunters around here that have kids teach them the same concept,” Milner said.
Research has found that children and teens from rural communities are at elevated risk for unintentional injury and suicide caused by firearms. Firearm injury is the leading cause of death for youth in America.
And because firearm ownership is common across northern Michigan communities, Cynthia Ewell Foster, a University of Michigan clinical professor of psychiatry, began piloting a program to encourage secure storage of firearms several years ago in partnership with Sarah Derwin of the Marquette County Health Department.
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