@article{ref1,
title="Did availability and interest in voluntary, temporary firearm storage change during the COVID-19 pandemic? Results from a two-state survey of firearm retailers/ranges  [conference abstract #50]",
journal="Injury prevention",
year="2022",
author="Brandspigel, Sara and Johnson, Rachel and Betz, Marian and Rowhani-Rahbar, Ali and Barnard, Leslie and Rivara, Frederick",
volume="28",
number="Suppl 1",
pages="A17-A17",
abstract="SAVIR 2022 Conference Abstracts  Statement of Purpose To support suicide prevention efforts, Colorado and Washington have online maps of locations willing to consider requests for voluntary, temporary firearm storage - including firearm retailers/ranges. With an increase in firearm sales and suicide risk factors during the COVID-19 pandemic, we sought to examine whether the pandemic led to changes in firearm storage requests and provisions.   Methods/Approach Between June-August 2021, the study team mailed surveys to all firearm retailers/ranges in Colorado and Washington State with questions including whether they provide firearm storage, the impact of COVID-19 on business operations and their willingness to store.   Results 139 firearm retailers/ranges responded to our survey (26% response rate). Retailers/ranges reported the most common ways COVID-19 affected business operations were inventory problems with ammunition (68.3%) and firearms (60.4%) and increase in sales (61.9%). When we asked retailers/ranges that have ever provided storage whether their willingness to do so changed during the 2020 pandemic, 84.2% said it was about the same, 7.0% said they were more likely to provide storage and 3.5% were less likely. We observed state differences in how COVID-19 affected firearm storage requests, with 30% of Washington retailers stating they received fewer requests for storage during COVID-19, compared to 8% in Colorado (P=.029).   Conclusion Overall, firearm retailers/ranges offering voluntary, temporary storage did not report major changes in their willingness to provide storage during the pandemic, and most did not report a change in frequency of requests, although there was a large increase in sales of firearms and ammunition. State differences in COVID-19 response may have contributed to variations in firearm storage requests.   Significance With increased firearm sales and risk factors for suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to understand the landscape of temporary firearm storage provision. Temporary out-of-home storage remains a viable option to reduce suicide risk.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1353-8047",
doi="10.1136/injuryprev-2022-SAVIR.44",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/injuryprev-2022-SAVIR.44"
}