While publicly promoting firearm safety, some law enforcement officers do not store their guns safely at home. A new study of officers at one Southern law enforcement agency found 44 percent store their weapons both unlocked and loaded.

"This may put officers and their families at an increased risk for firearm-related injuries," says Tamera Coyne-Beasley, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Coyne-Beasley led the research team whose report appears in the August issue of The American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

The researchers surveyed 207 agents at a Southern law enforcement agency, 60 percent of whom are white and 89 percent of whom are male.

Eighty percent of the officers kept a firearm, usually a handgun, in addition to their service weapon. Not surprisingly, this is a higher rate of gun ownership than estimates for the general population, in which ownership estimates range from 35 percent to 50 percent

Fifty-nine percent of the law enforcement officers reported storing firearms unlocked and 68 percent kept their guns loaded, contrary to safety precautions. Forty-four percent said they store their firearms both unlocked and loaded.

Respondents overwhelmingly favored mandatory safety training for gun owners and enforcement of firearm storage and registration laws. All officers in the study had undergone extensive weapons training.

The job itself may influence officers’ firearm safety behavior, as 85 percent said they felt an added need to protect themselves and their families because of their work in law enforcement. These law enforcement officers perceived themselves as vulnerable to attack from those they have arrested in the line of duty, a fear that is not unwarranted based on experience.

"Those owning firearms for self-protection were more likely to keep their firearms loaded," according to Coyne-Beasley

Family composition also affected safety procedures. It was clear that most officers recognized the importance of storing guns safely when there are children in the home. Agents with children at home were about twice as likely to employ safer storage practices as those in households without children.

An important factor underlying the officers’ gun storage practices relates to their need to keep firearms accessible for self-protection purposes. These findings highlight the need to further develop firearm safety devices that allow law enforcement officers, who put their lives on the line on a daily basis, to store their weapons safely in the home while making still accessible in an emergency. This research also demonstrates the need to develop other ways to make agents feel safe in their homes, says Coyne-Beasley.

The investigators caution that because all respondents worked at a single law enforcement agency in the South, the findings may not be representative of agencies elsewhere.

Funding for the study came from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through the Minority Medical Faculty Development Program and the William T. Grant Foundation through the Faculty Scholars Program.

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The American Journal of Preventive Medicine, sponsored by the Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine and the American College of Preventive Medicine, is published eight times a year by Elsevier Science. The Journal is a forum for the communication of information, knowledge and wisdom in prevention science, education, practice and policy. For more information about the Journal, contact the editorial office at (619) 594-7344. For copies of the article, contact the Center for the Advancement of Health at 202-387-2829 or e-mail press@cfah.org