U.S. adults misunderstand risks and benefits of firearm access at home

About 40% of households in the United States report firearm access and the majority of firearm owners report typically storing at least one of their firearms unsecured.

The most common reason individuals provide for when asked why they store firearms unsecured is defense, with many reporting that firearms are unrelated to suicide risk despite robust data to the contrary.

A new study by the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center clarified the extent to which U.S. adults exhibit skewed perceptions of risk and safety by collecting a nationally representative sample of 8,009 adults in May and asking participants about the extent to which they believe home firearm access is helpful in protecting people during a home invasion and to what extent home firearm access impacts suicide risk.

The study appears in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

The authors found that a majority of all adults (62.3%) and adults with firearm access (85.7%) said that home firearm access is at least somewhat helpful in protecting people during a home invasion. In contrast, both for the full sample (36.3%) and those with firearm access (52.3%), the most common belief is that home firearm access is unrelated to suicide risk.

Although those who said firearms have substantial protective value tended to see less of a connection between home firearm access and suicide risk, many adults endorsed both potential value and risk. Among those who said home firearm access is extremely helpful in keeping people safe during a home invasion, 37.5% also indicated that home firearm access increases the risk for suicide. Among those who said home firearm access is somewhat helpful in keeping people safe during a home invasion, 62.6% also said home firearm access increases the risk for suicide.

American families are tasked with balancing competing demands when they consider whether or not to keep a firearm in their home. On the one hand, they want to protect themselves and their loved ones from bad actors that may break in and harm them. On the other hand, they want to prevent tragedies like suicide from occurring. Overall, it seems that adults have skewed beliefs that exaggerate the protective value and understate the risk for suicide, but many people see both risk and value and the perceived value may be the deciding factor for them."

Michael Anestis, executive director of the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center at Rutgers and lead author of the study

The researchers also examined which individuals were most likely to perceive value and risk in home firearm access. Those who endorsed conspiratorial beliefs – that Joe Biden wasn't the legitimate winner of the 2020 presidential election and that the events of Jan. 6, 2021 weren't an example of domestic terrorism – were particularly prone to exaggerated perceptions of value and understated perceptions of risk.

"It may be that there is an information imbalance fueling Americans' belief that home firearm access keeps them safe rather than increasing the risk for suicide," Anestis said. "These beliefs may be fueled by the firearms industry and by the media sources typically consumed by the individuals who buy into conspiracies. This leaves certain American communities vulnerable to making decisions about home firearm access based on false narratives about the role of home firearm access in keeping people safe and putting people in danger. We owe it to them to make sure their decisions are based on facts, not to change their minds about home firearm access, but to ensure their decisions are based on reality."