Firearm ownership and storage among US college students: results from the healthy minds study, 2021–2022

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of behavioral medicine Vol. 47; no. 4; pp. 662 - 671
Main Authors Adams, Mackenzie, Gong, Catherine, Heinze, Justin E.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York Springer US 01.08.2024
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Adolescent
Adult
College campuses
College students
Colleges & universities
Drinking behavior
Family Medicine
Fatalities
Female
Firearms
Firearms - statistics & numerical data
General Practice
Health Psychology
Humans
Male
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Owners
Ownership
Ownership - statistics & numerical data
Risk Factors
Students - psychology
Students - statistics & numerical data
Suicidal Ideation
Suicide
Surveys and Questionnaires
United States - epidemiology
Universities
Young Adult
Young adults
United States
Firearm carrying
University campus
Firearm ownership
Firearm storage
Young adults
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Summary: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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ISSN:0160-7715
1573-3521
1573-3521
DOI:10.1007/s10865-024-00467-5