Reexamining the association between child access prevention gun laws and unintentional shooting deaths of children

Context. A previous study estimated that child access prevention (CAP) laws , which hold adults criminally liable for unsafe firearm storage in the env ironment of children, were associated with a 23% decline in unintentional f irearm mortality rates among children. Objective. To reassess the effects of CAP laws and more fully examine the c onsistency of the estimated law effects across states. Design. A pooled time-series study of unintentional firearm mortality among children from 1979 through 1997. Setting. The 50 states and the District of Columbia. Participants. All children <15 years. Main Outcome Measures. Rates of unintentional deaths attributable to firear ms. Results. When the effects of all 15 state CAP laws enacted before 1998 were aggregated, the laws were associated with a 17% decline unintentional fire arm death rates among children. The laws' effects were not equal across sta tes. Florida's CAP law was associated with a 51% decline; however, there we re no statistically significant aggregate or state-specific law effects in the other 14 states with CAP laws. Conclusions. Florida's CAP law-1 of only 3 such laws allowing felony prosec ution of violators-appears to have significantly reduced unintentional fire arm deaths to children. However, there is no evidence of effects in the oth er 14 states with CAP laws.