"I didn't know the gun was loaded": an examination of two safety devices that can reduce the risk of unintentional firearm injuries. J Public Health Policy 1999;20(4):427-40
Date
01/22/2000Pubmed ID
10643169DOI
10.2307/3343129Scopus ID
2-s2.0-0033399056 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 31 CitationsAbstract
Some handguns contain built-in safety devices intended to prevent injuries caused by erroneously believing that a handgun is loaded. A loaded chamber indicator indicates the presence of ammunition in the gun; a magazine safety prevents the gun from being fired when the ammunition magazine is removed, even if one round remains in the firing chamber. In our patent search these devices date back to the turn of the century. But on 1998 pistol models, only 11% contained a loaded chamber indicator and 14% had a magazine safety. In our random-digit-dial telephone survey of U.S. adults, 34.8% of poll respondents (incorrectly) thought that a firearm with its ammunition magazine removed could not be shot, or said that they did not know. Some of the 1100 unintentional gun deaths in the U.S. each year might be prevented if the prevalence of these and other safety devices is increased through legislation, litigation, or voluntary manufacturer action.
Author List
Vernick JS, Meisel ZF, Teret SP, Milne JS, Hargarten SWAuthor
Stephen W. Hargarten MD, MPH Professor in the Emergency Medicine department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdolescentAdult
Equipment Design
Equipment Safety
Firearms
Humans
Male
Patents as Topic
United States
Wounds, Gunshot
