Rhonda Rowland: Boys play with found guns, study shows

80% of all gunshot accidents involving children using guns, involve boys

Rhonda Rowland is the medical correspondent for the health news unit at CNN.

CNN Host: Good morning, Rhonda Rowland. Thank you for joining us this morning.

Rhonda Rowland: Good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us to discuss boys and guns.

CNN Host: What did researchers at Emory University find in their study about boys and guns?

Rhonda Rowland: They studied 29 groups of boys between the ages of 8 and 12. They were left in a room for 15 minutes. They were told to wait while their parents participated in a study. They didn't know what it was about. They were told they could play with toys that were on a shelf. But in two separate drawers, a real gun was concealed, and two water pistols. The researchers found that 75% of the boys discovered the gun. Of those, about 75% handled it, and half pulled the trigger with enough force to fire a gunshot. This was recorded with a radio transmitter. The boys were observed through a one-way mirror. Only one of the 29 groups left the room to tell the adults they had found a gun.

MESSAGE BOARD Guns under fire     ALSO Maryland school district adds gun safety to curriculum    Key study results: • 72% of test groups (48 boys) discovered a handgun concealed in a drawer • 76% of those who found the gun (30 boys) then handled it • In 48% of the groups, one or more member pulled the trigger (16 boys) • Approximately half of the 48 boys who found the gun were unsure whether it was real Source: Pediatrics  Accidental shootings • 400 children die every year from accidental shootings • 3,000 children receive nonfatal injuries • 80 percent of these shootings involve boys Source: Pediatrics

Question from chat room: What about the girls?

Rhonda Rowland: Only boys were included in the study. The reason is, about 80% of all gunshot accidents involving children, and children using guns, involve boys. The researchers say that boys are much more curious about guns than girls.

Question from chat room: Do researchers plan on studying girls under the same conditions?

Rhonda Rowland: The researchers did not say that they intend to study girls under the same conditions.

Question from chat room: Were the boys told to search the drawers, that there was something concealed in the room?

Rhonda Rowland: They were not told to search the drawers.

Question from chat room: How many of the kids thought the gun was a toy, since they'd been told they could play with the "toys?"

Rhonda Rowland: Of the boys who found the gun, half thought the gun was a toy, or they were unsure. Interestingly, 90% of the boys had had some previous education about guns.

Question from chat room: Rhonda, I am not surprised. With my own children I never remember my daughter wanting to play cops and robbers. The boys always seemed to want some action adventure. Is this perhaps something left over from the instinctive hunter-gathering stage in human development?

Rhonda Rowland: The doctors just know that boys, by nature, are very curious and interested in guns. Even if they don't have toy guns at their disposal, they'll pick up sticks or something, and pretend it's a gun. It seems to be an innate part of their nature. Even if they haven't been previously exposed to guns, they seem very interested in them.

Question from chat room: Those boys that did have curiosity about the guns, did they point it at any other boys?

Rhonda Rowland: We have actual video footage from the study, and we watched as one boy waved the gun around at himself and his friend, and a second boy grabbed the gun from his hand, and then pointed the gun at a third person, or in that direction, as if to shoot.

CNN Host: What was the reaction of the parents when told about their children's actions?

Rhonda Rowland: The doctors tell us that the parents were surprised. The way their children behaved did not match their expectations. The bottom line message that researchers want parents to get is that we cannot put the burden of gun safety on children. As one researcher said, boys are boys, and they are curious, and cannot be counted on to do the right thing when they find a gun, even in boys as old as 12. Therefore, the onus is on parents who have guns to have them locked away.

Question from chat room: What exactly has the gun lobby's reaction been?

Rhonda Rowland: We contacted the NRA, and a spokesperson told us, after reviewing the study, that they thought there was a problem with the study design, because the boys were in a hospital, so they would have assumed it was a safe environment.

Question from chat room: Has the study been subjected to peer review? Do the NRA's objections have any merit?

Rhonda Rowland: The study was published in the Journal of Pediatrics, which is put out by the American Academy of Pediatrics. It is a respected peer-reviewed journal. It should be noted that the Academy has come out publicly with the recommendation that the best way to avoid gun-related deaths and injuries is the absence of firearms from homes and communities.

Question from chat room: So what is the recommendation? Get kids into gun safety classes at an early age?

Rhonda Rowland: The researchers say there is nothing wrong with parents educating their children about guns, that is, telling them that if they find one, to not touch it, to walk away, to tell an adult. But that is not enough. Adults who own guns have to be responsible, and lock them away. One of the researchers told us that they have approached the NRA to see if they could study their education program, called Eddie Eagle, and the NRA declined. When we mentioned this to the NRA spokesperson, he said "there is no substitute for parental supervision."

CNN Host: Do you have any final thoughts for us today?

Rhonda Rowland: Once again, the researchers emphasize that children cannot bear the burden of gun safety. Adults have the responsibility to protect them by knowing if your child is visiting a home with a gun, and if so, finding out if the gun is locked away, and if a family owns a gun, which survey shows one-third of households with children do have guns, it needs to be securely locked away. The NRA agrees, parental supervision, with regards to guns, is crucial.

CNN Host: Thank you for joining us today, Rhonda Rowland.

Rhonda Rowland: Goodbye, everyone, and thank you very much for your questions.

Rhonda Rowland joined the chat from CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia. CNN provided a typist for her. The above is an edited transcript of the chat on Tuesday, June 5, 2001.

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• American Academy of Pediatrics
• Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
• Emory School of Medicine
• Handgun Control
• National Rifle Association

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