- WASHINGTON (AP) -- More than 40 percent of American households that include
children have guns -- a figure that should make parents vigilant not only
about guns in their own homes but in the homes of others, a gun-control
group said Friday.
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- The survey by the Center to Prevent Handgun
Violence found that 43 percent of homes have both guns and children, and
23 percent of those keep the gun loaded.
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- The survey found that 28 percent of the
gunowners with children keep the gun hidden but not locked up. Still, 73
percent of parents think it is unlikely their children would find or handle
a gun without their permission, the survey showed.
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- "Only when parents are as conscientious
about guns in the home as they are about lesser dangers can we protect
our children from these terrible and unnecessary tragedies," said
Robert Walker, the center's president.
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- Parents need to pay more attention to
the possibility of guns in the homes their children visit, the group said.
While three-fourths of parents have talked to their children about what
to do if they find a gun at the home of a friend, only 30 percent have
checked with other parents to see if they keep guns, according to the study.
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- Sarah Brady, whose husband, James Brady,
was seriously wounded in the assassination attempt on President Reagan
in March 1981, leads the group.
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- The survey of 806 parents was conducted
by Peter Hart Research Associates between Oct. 31 and Nov. 4. It has a
margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
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