Statewide Gun Survey Triggers Interesting Response

INDIANAPOLIS - An overwhelming number of Hoosiers-many of them gun owners-say they support mandatory background checks of all people who buy firearms at shows in the state, according to the Indiana Partnership to Prevent Firearm Violence at the Indiana University School of Medicine.

Eighty-seven percent of those participating in a recent statewide survey say they would support a state law requiring the background checks. Near-similar percentages of those polled also back laws that would require all new handguns sold in Indiana to be childproofed and a mandatory waiting period for all people wanting to purchase a handgun.

"The survey-the first of its kind in our state-provides an accurate measurement of Indiana residents' opinions about the purchase of guns, safe storage of guns and other firearm injury prevention initiatives," says Marilyn Bull, M.D., director of development pediatrics at IU School of Medicine and medical director of the partnership. "Gun violence in every sense is a public health issue."

The rate of firearm deaths in Indiana-homicides, suicides and accidental shootings-is 14 per 100,000 population, according to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. The state ranks first among surrounding central states in gun-related deaths.

Nearly 50 percent of all homes in Indiana have firearms, compared to a national average of 40 percent. Of Hoosier homes with firearms, 30 percent are handguns, 8 percent higher than the national rate.

The statewide telephone poll, conducted late last year by the Indiana University Center for Survey Research, surveyed the views of 1,109 citizens. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.

Among other findings in the survey:

· 86 percent feel that persons convicted of domestic violence should not be able to purchase handguns in Indiana

· 83 percent agreed that mandatory safety training on handling and storing firearms should be required in Indiana for all first-time gun buyers

· 81 percent of respondents say that gun owners with children under 18 years old residing in the home should be required by law to store all guns unloaded and locked away

· 71 percent support a requirement that all Indiana gun owners store their firearms with trigger locks

"This information is valuable for civic and community leaders who design and implement policy and prevention programs focused on reducing firearm-related deaths and injuries," says Patricia Lau, director of the Indiana Partnership to Prevent Firearm Violence, adding that her organization currently is developing a database to capture information about firearm-related injuries and deaths in Marion County and throughout the state.

The partnership was established by grants from the Joyce Foundation, a Chicago-based philanthropic organization, and the IU School of Medicine.

For more information about the survey or the Indiana Partnership to Prevent Firearm Violence, call (317) 278-7776.

Media Contact: Joe Stuteville
Tel: (317)274-7722
Email: jstutevi@iupui.edu

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