Survey: Family Weapons Not Properly Secured

Survey Shows Family Weapons Not Properly Secured - Gun Trigger Locks Urged as Way to Prevent Brain Injuries

Over the past decade, the amount of violence striking children, communities and schools has reached epidemic levels. Every day, 94 people in the United States die as a result of gun shot wounds, including 12 people under the age of 20. Gun safety lock distribution programs have become a crisis response reaction to the growing number of firearm-related injuries, such as traumatic brain injuries.

"Convincing gun owners to secure their family handguns is key to stopping the firearm epidemic sweeping our nation," says Mimi Watson Sutherland, RN, a neurosurgical nurse at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center. "In a recent survey conducted by the THINK FIRST Family Gun Education Safety Program, we found that the number of parents with firearms in their household is on the rise. Too often, parents overestimate their child's ability to recognize the differences between a real gun and toy gun. They leave their loaded handguns in locations they do not perceive to be easily accessible to their children, thereby placing their child at serious risk."

Ms. Sutherland will release the results of the firearm survey at the Annual Meeting of The American Association of Neurological Surgeons, on Tuesday, April 27. The survey asked 195 gun owners about their firearm storage, usage and maintenance patterns, and found that only 41 percent of gun owners checked the location of their weapon daily.

In 1992, firearms surpassed motor vehicles as the number one cause of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in the United States. Each year, approximately 100,000 people sustain brain injuries that result in lifelong disabling conditions.

Between 1986 and 1990, the number of children under the age of 19 receiving trauma care for gunshot wounds nearly doubled. Many of these victims required long-term hospitalization and suffered permanent disabilities, including severe spinal cord and head injuries. The annual cost associated with hospital treatment for gunshot wounds is estimated to be $1 billion

"I hope that the results of this survey will raise awareness among gun owners and encourage them to take the necessary precautions to keep guns out of the hands of children," said Ms. Sutherland. "By educating parents on how to properly secure and store guns, the incidence of unintentional injury will surely decline."

"Gun safety is an enormous public health problem, and neurosurgeons, more than any other physicians, see the devastating impact of such injuries," said Brian T. Andrews, MD, a neurosurgeon at the University of California - San Francisco, and Chairman of the AANS/CNS Section on Neurotrauma and Critical Care. "Each year more and more children are brought to the emergency room with traumatic brain injuries resulting from gunshot wounds and, often, medical care is too late to save these young victims."

Safety locks are relatively simple and inexpensive devices that attach to an unloaded handgun's trigger, blocking its use. The lock can be removed with a key or combination. In some more sophisticated devices, the safety lock is built into the handle of the gun, thereby allowing only the user, wearing a magnetic ring or comparable device, to pull the trigger.

"Giving away free trigger locks is a meaningless act, unless you convince gun owners of their personal necessity," said Ms. Sutherland. "I hope that this study will be used as a tool to prevent gun injuries, raise awareness, reduce high-risk gun storage behavior and save young children's lives."

Founded in 1931 as the Harvey Cushing Society, The American Association of Neurological Surgeons is a scientific and education association with approximately 5,300 members in the United States, Canada and Mexico. It is dedicated to advancing the specialty of neurological surgery in order to provide the highest quality of neurosurgical care to the public. All active members must be certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgeons. Neurosurgery is the medical specialty dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of disorders affecting the nervous system, brain, spinal cord and spinal column.

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For more information on the AANS, visit our Web site at www.neurosurgery.org.

Media Representatives : If you would like to attend the conference or interview a neurosurgeon - either on-site or via telephone - please contact the AANS Communications Department at (847) 692-9500 or call the Press Room at the meeting beginning Sunday afternoon, April 25, 1999 at (504) 670-6434.