%0 Journal Article %A Vivian H Lyons %A Miriam J Haviland %A Deborah Azrael %A Avanti Adhia %A M Alex Bellenger %A Alice Ellyson %A Ali Rowhani-Rahbar %A Frederick P Rivara %T Firearm purchasing and storage during the COVID-19 pandemic %D 2021 %R 10.1136/injuryprev-2020-043872 %J Injury Prevention %P 87-92 %V 27 %N 1 %X 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. %U https://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/injuryprev/27/1/87.full.pdf