Firearm injuries are the leading cause of death in children and teens in the US, and many of these injuries take place in other people’s homes. Increased focus is being placed on the ways that pediatricians counsel on firearm safety, including discussing firearms in homes that children visit. For providers to provide impactful counseling, it is important to understand current caregiver firearm safety behaviors.
In an article being early released this week in Pediatrics, entitled “Caregivers Asking About Firearms in Homes Their Children Visit,” Dr. Maya Haasz and colleagues from the University of Colorado, University of Michigan, and Vanderbilt University set out to estimate the percentage of US caregivers who have ever asked about firearms in a home that their child visits (10.1542/peds.2025-071373). They also investigated whether there is an association between where caregivers receive information on firearm safety, the total number of sources of firearm information the caregiver receives, and asking about firearms in other homes that their child visits.