RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Firearm purchasing and storage during the COVID-19 pandemic
JF Injury Prevention
JO Inj Prev
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP injuryprev-2020-043872
DO 10.1136/injuryprev-2020-043872
A1 Vivian H Lyons
A1 Miriam J Haviland
A1 Deborah Azrael
A1 Avanti Adhia
A1 M Alex Bellenger
A1 Alice Ellyson
A1 Ali Rowhani-Rahbar
A1 Frederick P Rivara
YR 2020
UL http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/early/2020/09/17/injuryprev-2020-043872.abstract
AB To better understand motivations behind purchase and storage of firearms during the COVID-19 pandemic, we used Amazon Mechanical Turk to conduct an online survey of individuals who did and did not purchase a firearm since 1 January 2020 in response to COVID-19. The survey was fielded between 1 and 5 May 2020. We asked about motivations for purchase, changes in storage practices and concern for themselves or others due to COVID-19. There were 1105 survey respondents. Most people who purchased a firearm did so to protect themselves from people. Among respondents who had purchased a firearm in response to COVID-19 without prior household firearm ownership, 39.7% reported at least one firearm was stored unlocked. Public health efforts to improve firearm-related safety during COVID-19 should consider increasing access to training and framing messages around the concerns motivating new firearm purchase.