Seeing is believing: What do boys do when they find a real gun?

Objectives. To determine how boys behave when they find a handgun in a pres umably safe environment and to compare parental expectations of their child 's interest in real guns with this observed behavior. Methods. A convenience sample of 8- to 12-year-old boys was recruited from families that completed a survey on firearm ownership, storage practices, a nd parental perceptions. Parents were asked to rate their child's interest in real guns on a scale from 1 to 5: 1-2 = low interest, 3 = moderate inter est, and 4-5 = high interest. Parents of an eligible child were asked to br ing to the exercise 1 of their son's playmates and/or a sibling in the same age range. After informed parental consent was obtained, each pair or trio of boys was placed in a room with a 1-way mirror and observed for up to 15 minutes. Two water pistols and an actual .380 caliber handgun were conceal ed in separate drawers. The handgun contained a radio transmitter that acti vated a light whenever the trigger was depressed with sufficient force to d ischarge the firearm. After the exercise, each boy was asked whether he tho ught that the pistol was real or a toy. Before leaving, each child was coun seled about safe behavior around guns. Results. Twenty-nine groups of boys (n = 64) took part in the study. The me an age of participants was 9.8 years. Twenty-one of the groups (72%) discov ered the handgun (n = 48 boys); 16 groups (76%) handled it (n = 30 boys). O ne or more members in 10 of the groups (48%) pulled the trigger (n = 16 boy s). Approximately half of the 48 boys who found the gun thought that it was a toy or were unsure whether it was real. Parental estimates of their chil d's interest in guns did not predict actual behavior on finding the handgun . Boys who were believed to have a low interest in real guns were as likely to handle the handgun or pull the trigger as boys who were perceived to ha ve a moderate or high interest in guns. More than 90% of the boys who handl ed the gun or pulled the trigger reported that they had previously received some sort of gun safety instruction. Conclusion. Many 8- to 12-year-old boys will handle a handgun if they find one. Guns that are kept in homes should be stored in a manner that renders them inaccessible to children.