Rutgers-led study finds brief firearm safety talks more than double out-of-home storage openness

AI digestMimile.ai EditorialAugust 17, 2026 at 01:40 AM

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Rutgers-led study finds brief firearm safety talks more than double out-of-home storage openness

A Rutgers-led study found that a brief firearm safety conversation more than doubled willingness among Mississippi National Guard members to consider temporary out-of-home storage during distress. The increase was largest among participants who initially opposed out-of-home storage.

Key Facts

The study, published in Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, analyzed data from 232 members of the Mississippi National Guard with firearms in their homes.
Participants received either a roughly 15-minute Project Safe Guard conversation about firearm storage or a comparison conversation on other health and home safety topics.
Researchers asked participants about their willingness to temporarily have a trusted person store their firearm if they or a household member became highly distressed, immediately before and after the intervention and again three and six months later.
Among participants who initially said they were not at all willing to use out-of-home storage, 56.5% of Project Safe Guard recipients reported at least some willingness immediately afterward, compared with 20.8% of comparison recipients.
A similar but smaller increase was found when participants were asked about storing firearms outside the home if someone else in the household became highly distressed.

The Project Safe Guard Intervention

Project Safe Guard is a brief firearm safety conversation designed to encourage secure storage. The intervention lasted roughly 15 minutes and was delivered to members of the Mississippi National Guard. A comparison group received a 15-minute conversation focused on other health and home safety topics. Researchers at the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center at Rutgers led the study.

Willingness to Store Firearms Outside Home

The intervention produced a statistically significant increase in willingness to consider temporary out-of-home firearm storage when participants themselves became highly distressed. Immediately after the intervention, 56.5% of initially unwilling Project Safe Guard recipients reported at least some willingness to store their firearm outside the home, compared with 20.8% in the comparison group. The same questions were asked again three and six months after the intervention. A similar but smaller increase was found when participants considered storage for another distressed household member.

Suicide Risk Context

Firearm access can increase the risk of suicide, particularly during periods of acute distress. One approach to reducing that risk is to temporarily make firearms less accessible during crises, such as storing them outside the home. Many firearm owners remain reluctant to consider temporary out-of-home storage despite its potential benefits. The study, based on 232 Mississippi National Guard members with household firearms, was published in Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior.

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Rutgers-led study finds brief firearm safety talks more than double out-of-home storage openness

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Rutgers-led study finds brief firearm safety talks more than double out-of-home storage openness

Key Facts

The Project Safe Guard Intervention

Willingness to Store Firearms Outside Home

Suicide Risk Context

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