Physician firearm ownership as a predictor of firearm injury prevention practice

Objectives. This study explored the relation between physicians' gun owners hip and their attitudes and practices regarding firearm injury prevention. Methods. Internists and surgeons were surveyed, and logistic regression mod els were developed with physicians' personal; involvement with firearms (in the form of a gun score) as the primary independent variable. Results. Higher gun scores were associated with less agreement that firearm injury is a public health issue and that physicians should be involved in firearm injury prevention but with a greater likelihood of reporting the in clusion of firearm ownership and storage as part of patient safety counseli ng. Conclusions. Despite being less likely to say that doctors should participa te in firearm injury prevention, physician gun owners are more likely than nonowners to report counseling patients about firearm safety.