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In a convenience sample of people who presented at three pediatric emergency departments (ED), 53% to 74% of caregivers said they believed their child could discriminate between real and toy guns, as did 68% to 88% of the children, according to Kiesha Fraser Doh, MD, of Emory University in Atlanta, and colleagues.

But when asked to identify a real weapon from a fake one, only 41% of the children (ages 7-17 years) made the correct choice, they reported at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) annual meeting.

"One of our most dramatic findings was how easily caregivers and children can confuse real guns with today's realistic looking toy guns," Fraser Doh said at an AAP press conference.

Also, 34% of gun owners followed recommendations of the AAP that gun owners store their weapons locked, unloaded, and separate from ammunition. "About 53% of the parents in our study were not storing their firearms safely or securely," she said.

Only 5.1% of caregivers said they felt their child could obtain a gun in 24 hours, the authors added.

Fraser Doh said her interest in firearm safety was spiked by concern about the storage of firearms in homes that her child visited, and also by what appeared to be frequent ED presentations of children with accidental firearm injuries.

"We did a parent-child dyad study in which we asked parents how they stored firearms, and then we asked children and parents about access to the firearms," she explained. They ended up with 297 pairs of children and caregivers; 196 were recruited from EDs in suburban hospitals and 101 from one urban ED.

The majority of participants were female (79%), had some college education (72%), and had an annual income >$50.0000. Blacks and whites represented 56% and 33% of participants, respectively.

Gun owners represented 25% of respondents, and they were significantly more likely to be white (P<0.0001), have an annual income >$50,000 (P<0.0001), and some college education (P=0.0258) versus non-gun owners.

Also, gun owners said they were more likely to allow their child to play with toy guns (50% vs 26%, P<0.01), discussed firearm safety with their child (86% vs 58%, P<0.001), and said they believed their child could correctly identify a real gun versus a toy gun (P=0.01).

"If you think about it, the majority of parents are storing their firearms insecurely, and the children cannot tell the difference between a real gun and a toy firearm," Fraser Doh noted. "What this study tells us is that it behooves pediatricians to continue to educate their families on how to store firearms safely, and is a reminder to parents to check on how firearms are being stored in homes where their children are visiting."

Tom Wolynn, MD, of Kids Plus Pediatrics/Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, told 麻豆传媒 that "There are plenty of studies that show that children, even at a very young age, know how to handle guns; how to pull the trigger. I think there are plenty of studies that show that parents who don't think their kids know where the firearms are, know where the firearms are."

"It is one of the reasons we make a key point of asking [parents] about firearms in the house, and if they say 'yes,' we ask if the gun is locked...we also ask if the ammunition is separate for the gun because we know that all of those separate processes reduce risky events," said Wolynn, who was not involved in the study. "Questions about gun safety should be part and parcel of a general well-child care."

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