Promoting secure Firearm storage: The role of the media in reporting on unintentional Firearm deaths among children

Abstract

Unintentional firearm deaths among children in the United States are relatively rare but preventable events, most often occurring in the home and involving improperly stored firearms. Despite strong evidence that secure firearm storage substantially reduces pediatric injury risk, fewer than half of U.S. households with both children and firearms report adhering to recommended storage practices. Misperceptions among caregivers, including beliefs that firearms must remain readily accessible for protection, that children are unaware of firearm locations, or that young children lack the physical ability to discharge a gun, contribute to unsafe storage behaviors. Educational programs aimed at teaching children not to touch firearms have also demonstrated limited effectiveness. Media coverage plays a critical role in shaping public understanding of these deaths, yet reporting frequently frames incidents as “tragic accidents,” and omits reporting on evidence-based prevention strategies such as secure storage and the relevance of Child Access Prevention (CAP) laws. This may result in inadvertently ignoring public health context and hinder prevention efforts. In response, we propose a set of media guidelines, operationalized through a journalist tip-sheet, to encourage the inclusion of accurate data, diverse public health expert perspectives, and clear prevention messaging in reports of unintentional pediatric firearm deaths. Aligning media narratives with injury prevention science has the potential to improve public awareness, reinforce caregivers’ legal and ethical responsibilities, and contribute to reductions in preventable childhood firearm fatalities.

Introduction

We sought to develop a set of media guidelines, operationalized through a journalist tip-sheet, to encourage the inclusion of accurate data, diverse public health expert perspectives, and clear prevention messaging in reports of unintentional pediatric firearm deaths. We completed two literature reviews to guide the framework of the tip sheet. The search strategy for the first literature review utilized PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar for relevant studies. Search terms included firearm, gun, storage, lock, secure, AND attitude; prevalence; behavior; children, and minors. Records were eligible for inclusion if they were empirical studies examining the epidemiology, prevalence and attitudes toward secure firearm storage in homes containing both children and firearms. The search strategy for the second literature review utilized the same databases listed above and added EBSCO’s Communication and Mass Media Complete and ProQuest Central. Search terms included injury, firearm, unintentional, accident, shooting, AND pediatric, minor, children, media, reporting, journalism, news. The second literature review summarized and synthesized how mainstream media has traditionally reported on unintentional shootings involving minors. This literature review explored the aspects of “media framing” as they pertain to public health and how the current media frame for injury deaths is currently impacting public health prevention efforts. Due to a paucity of firearm violence prevention research, publication dates were limited to 2005-2026. The most salient findings informed the creation of a media tip-sheet which offer informed solutions to address any inadequacies or omissions identified in the following research. The tip sheet is aimed to be accessible for all journalists regardless of their prior knowledge of public health or gun violence prevention efforts.

Epidemiology, prevalence and attitudes toward secure firearm storage

Unintentional firearm deaths among children represent a small but preventable share of childhood morbidity and mortality in the United States. In the U.S., between 2003–2021 there were 2,366 unintentional firearm injury deaths in children aged 0-17 years. ¹ Boys are disproportionately affected (86% of deaths and 85% of shooters), and 85% of shootings occur in homes, with most having occurred in the child’s own home.^1–4 Firearms are prevalent in U.S. households, with approximately 40% of adults with children having a gun in the home. ⁵ A key dimension of prevention of these events is secure firearm storage. Public health authorities recommend and define secure storage as firearms stored in a locked storage device specific for firearms (lockboxes, gun safes, trigger locks), unloaded, and with ammunition stored separately. ⁶ Secure storage laws and policies (child access prevention or CAP laws) can help to reinforce secure storage as these laws, the strictest of which may impose criminal liability on adults who do not store firearms locked and unloaded, are associated with reduced rates of unintentional firearm fatalities among children in States that have strong CAP laws. ⁷ Thirty-six states currently have CAP laws, which impose criminal liability on adults if a child gains access to a firearm. State CAP laws can range from less restrictive laws, such as the adult is only liable if they intentionally provide a firearm to a child (reckless provision laws), to more restrictive laws, which impose criminal liability for storing a gun in a manner that could reasonably be expected to result in access by a minor (safe storage laws, which require the firearm to be stored unloaded and in a locking device). ⁸

Secure firearm storage is an important aspect of child safety given that approximately 30 million children in the U.S. live in a household with a firearm. ⁵ Among households with both firearms and children present, less than half (44%) reported proper storage of firearms. ⁵ Attitudes towards secure firearm storage, along with individualized decision making, may help to explain why a significant portion of households with children do not practice secure firearm storage. ⁹ Research examining parent’s perspectives on secure firearm storage found that the most common reasons for owning firearms were personal safety/protection, hunting, and recreation. ¹⁰ Among the parents who reported the desire to possess firearms for home protection was a simultaneous resistance toward secure firearm storage due to it being perceived as inhibiting its use for protection. In fact, most firearm owners report that their main reason for carrying a firearm was self-defense. ¹¹ However, based on historical and more recent studies, the actual use of firearms for self-defense is a relatively rare occurrence in the United States.^12–15 Conversely, study participants demonstrated a low perception of risk of injury or fatality from their personally owned firearms to their families (e.g. suicide, domestic dispute, unintentional shootings) and a higher conviction that the firearm must remain readily accessible as a proactive safety measure. ¹⁰

Some firearm owners purport to believe that “hiding” their firearms is an alternative to, or synonymous with, securing them safely. However, research conducted with both parents and their children found that 39% of the parents who stated that their child did not know the storage location of a gun were contradicted by their child’s survey answers. ¹⁶ The study also revealed that “children younger than 10 years were as likely as older children to report knowing the storage location.” Another common reason caregivers provide for not practicing secure firearm storage is that they believe that young children are not strong enough to successfully discharge a firearm; however, findings based on news reports show that children as young as 3 years old have been implicated as the shooter of a handgun in unintentional shooting death incidents. ¹⁷

Another tactic that has been touted as an alternative to storing firearms securely is to tell children to simply not touch guns. Programs such as Eddie Eagle have been developed by the National Rifle Association (NRA) and use cartoon characters and videos along with parental guidance to train children not to pick up guns. Despite being established for over 30 years, Eddie Eagle and similar programs fail to teach children to perform gun safety skills when assessed in real life situations. ¹⁸ Furthermore, even skill-based gun safety education programs like the Center for Handgun Violence Prevention’s STAR program have also been shown to be ineffective in reducing firearm play. ¹⁹ At this time, there is no safer substitution for secure storage measures when guns are present in a home. Storing firearms securely will not eliminate pediatric unintentional shooting deaths, however, evidence indicates that storing firearms unloaded and locked significantly reduces the odds of unintentional firearm injuries among children and teens in the home. ²⁰

Media framing: Mainstream media and the reporting of unintentional pediatric firearm deaths

Media coverage surrounding firearm injuries and deaths varies based on characteristics of the event, with approximately half of all shootings not making the news.^21,22 Shootings that involve children, however, are more likely to be reported by the media. Media coverage of unintentional pediatric firearm deaths document these events and helps to shape public perception. ²² Therefore, public health professionals working together with journalists to better frame shooting events may help to prevent firearm future injury and death. ²¹ For example, aspects of the story that are emphasized (the child’s behavior, the gun owner’s responsibility, the role of policy, etc.) influences whether the public sees shootings as isolated accidents or part of a broader, preventable public health problem. One consistent feature of reports on unintentional pediatric firearm deaths is the use of the word “accidental.” These deaths are consistently referred to as “tragic accidents” in reports from the mainstream media. ¹⁷ This phrase frames the event as a random occurrence, which may be problematic because it does not imply that behavior change, such as secure storage of firearms, may have prevented the incident. Unintentional shootings involving minors are preventable, and “an event that is preventable, understandable, and even predictable cannot be called an event of chance.” ²³ As such, the general consensus in the field of injury prevention is that the term “accident” suggests an inevitability of occurrence without regard to prevention, and its use should be limited. ²³

Another hallmark of the unintentional pediatric firearm death media frame is the lack of variation of the “experts” cited in reports of these incidents. One study identified that of over 200 media reports on unintentional pediatric firearm deaths, only 23% contained a prevention message, and police officers were the “experts” quoted in over 80% of the stories. Furthermore, specific prevention messages including words like “lock” or locked” were only included in 21.9% of all incidents. ¹⁷ While law enforcement officials are often first-responders to firearm incidents, they may not be trained in effectively communicating risk with the public, nor the necessity of proper secure firearm storage. To better explain the national scope of unintentional pediatric firearm deaths as well as the necessity of practicing secure firearm storage as a preventative measure, the media frame must expand to cite experts outside of law enforcement as well as utilize relevant research. A media frame that is in accordance with public health firearm violence prevention efforts would include quotes and research from public health officials such as injury prevention researchers and pediatricians. A notable omission from the current media reporting is the exclusion of a mention as to whether or not the state where the death occurred had a Child Access Prevention (CAP) law in place. ¹⁷ While these laws, in particular, safe storage laws, have been found to be effective in reducing firearm-related unintentional injuries and deaths among minors, ²⁴ there is a suspected lag in the effectiveness of this legislation due to a lack of public awareness that those laws were in place. ²⁵ The omission as to whether or not the state had a CAP law does a disservice to prompting securely storing firearms by failing to raise awareness of caregivers’ legal obligations.

Media guidelines for reporting on unintentional pediatric firearm deaths

We propose guidelines via the development of a media tip-sheet to help journalists incorporate accurate data, expert analysis, and prevention messages into reports on unintentional pediatric firearm deaths. In doing so, the media frames may begin to change in a way that is congruent with public health efforts to reduce the incidence of unintentional shootings. Precedent for this type of approach has been established by organizations such as the Berkeley Media Studies Group, ²⁶ which has provided journalistic training on the reporting of various types of violent events. However, they have not included unintentional shootings involving minors and have mainly focused on interpersonal violence such as homicide and suicide. By providing journalists with the rationale and resources in the field of gun violence prevention, a shift in public attitudes and beliefs surrounding the circumstances of these fatal events may evolve. A media tip-sheet (see Table 1) with which to guide journalists’ reports on unintentional shootings that resulted in the death of a minor are provided herein. This will be unique in that it will be one of the first available resources to aid in the reporting on unintentional pediatric firearm deaths, having been informed by information from previous resources that have been developed to incorporate prevention into the reporting on mass shootings and suicides by firearms.^27,28 While the guidelines developed for reporting on mass shooting and suicide emphasized aspects of contagion and sensationalism, these issues are not of concern among media reports of unintentional shooting deaths. Rather, increased visibility of these events may be more likely to aid prevention efforts. Dissemination of the tip sheet, which is aimed at local journalists, as well as mainstream national reporting sources who report on unintentional shooting involving children, will involve targeted dissemination via avenues such as social media and conference proceedings, as well as partnering with existing advocacy groups, such as the Berkely Media Studies Group. ²⁶

Table 1.

Tip sheet on how to frame unintentional pediatric firearm deaths in the media.

Reporting on unintentional pediatric firearm death: A tip-sheet
1. Prevention Messaging
THE WHAT
Prevention messaging refers to messages that aim to prevent adverse health outcomes such by providing information and offering recommendations on precautions. To prevent unintentional pediatric firearm injury and death, prevention messaging may include information and instructions on practicing secure firearm storage.
CURRENT ISSUE
Studies have shown that the majority of mainstream media omit prevention messaging in their reports of unintentional shootings involving children. Failing to include prevention messaging is a missed opportunity to raise awareness and increase protective behaviors among the public to prevent future injuries and deaths.
SOLUTION
Incorporate public health prevention messaging such as secure storage instructions and importance by quoting from reputable organizations or obtaining a quote from an expert in the field other than law enforcement, such as public health professionals, pediatricians, or emergency room physicians.
2. Child Access Prevention (CAP) Laws
THE WHAT
Child Access Prevention or CAP laws are state-level laws that impose criminal liability on adults if a child gains access to a gun, access to an unsecured firearm, and/or uses their firearm to harm themselves or someone else.
CURRENT ISSUE
CAP laws have been shown to be effective, but research suggests that there is a reduction in their effectiveness due to a lack of public awareness. The majority of news stories covering an unintentional pediatric firearm death do not mention if the death occurred in a CAP law State.
SOLUTION
Utilize websites such as Everytown for Gun Safety and Brady United in order to determine if the state where the death occurs has a cap law and, if so, include mention of its presence in reporting piece. See State Firearm Law Navigator at https://www.rand.org/research/gun-policy/law-navigator.html#child-access-protection-laws
3. Accident Vs. Unintentional
THE WHAT
There is consensus in the field of injury prevention that the term “accident” connotes an inevitability of occurrence without regard to prevention. Therefore, the use of “accident” should be avoided.
CURRENT ISSUE
The mainstream media almost always describe pediatric unintentional firearm deaths as ‘tragic accidents’ or ‘accidents.'
SOLUTION
Consider adopting the word ‘unintentional’ to describe this type of firearm death. Strive to convey through reporting that these events are not inevitable but rather readily preventable.
4. Seeking out Experts in the Field
THE WHAT
Experts in the field include public health officials, injury prevention specialists and researchers, physicians like pediatricians and emergency medicine physicians, and firearm violence prevention experts.
CURRENT ISSUE
Stories covering unintentional pediatric firearm deaths will often quote law enforcement officials. These individuals are typically not trained in firearm violence prevention messaging and if information on safe storage is provided, it often lacks specificity and public health framing.
SOLUTION
Seek out quotes from experts in the field or visit the websites of reputable gun violence prevention centers or injury prevention centers often affiliated with universities to best inform reporting on unintentional pediatric firearm deaths.