Abstract
The purpose of this study is to address a significant gap in knowledge on firearm ownership rates and storage characteristics in a national sample of college students. We used 2021–2022 survey data from the Healthy Minds Study, which included approximately 88,500 students at over 100 US colleges and universities. We conducted analyses using descriptive statistics and two-sample proportion tests. About 4% of respondents reported having a firearm on or around campus. Among firearm owners, 68.8% reported storing firearms at their permanent address within an hour’s drive from campus, and 43.1% reported storing their firearms unloaded and locked. Firearm ownership rates were significantly higher for respondents who were positive for specific risk factors (i.e., in a relationship, suicide ideation, recent binge drinking, and having been physically assaulted) versus those who were negative. These findings support the need for targeted messaging and firearm safety training for college students to reduce firearm-related risks.
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Data availability
Data in this manuscript are publicly available through https://healthymindsnetwork.org/.
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The authors wish to thank the students for their time completing the survey and the colleges and universities for supporting the implementation of the Healthy Minds Study on their campus.
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Conceptualization: MA, CG, JH; Methodology: CG, JH; Formal analysis: CG; Writing—original draft preparation/review and editing: MA, CG, JH; Supervision: JH.
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Mackenzie Adams declare no conflicts of interest. Catherine Gong declare no conflicts of interest. Justin E. Heinze declare no conflicts of interest.
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The Healthy Minds Study was approved by the Institutional Review Boards at all participating colleges and universities and a National Institutes of Health Certificate of Confidentiality further protected the privacy of participants.
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All procedures followed were in accordance with ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.
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Adams, M., Gong, C. & Heinze, J.E. Firearm ownership and storage among US college students: results from the healthy minds study, 2021–2022. J Behav Med (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-024-00467-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-024-00467-5