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Edgar A. Suter, MD
Doctors for Integrity in Research and Public Policy San Ramon, Calif

JAMA. 1995;273(22):1733.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.

—The article entitled "Firearm Training and Storage" by Dr Hemenway and colleagues¹ wrongfully equated all loaded, unlocked guns with risk of accident (ie, unintentional gunshot injury), suicide, and homicide. The authors did not distinguish among adult-only homes in which guns may be safely stored loaded and accessible, homes in which the threat of attack outweighs the risk of gun accident, and homes in which the danger of a loaded accessible gun is great. Interestingly, the authors failed to mention the most striking fact about gun accidents: that whatever the storage habits of gun owners, gun accident fatality rates have been falling steadily since 1903 and now hover at an all-time low.² For perspective, about 140 innocent children die at home from gun accidents annually,² compared with a tragedy that is 1300 times greater—the 180 000 Americans who die from physicians' negligence each year.³ . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Footnotes
Edited by Drummond Rennie, MD, Deputy Editor (West), and Margaret A. Winker, MD, Senior Editor.

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