Most firearm owners use safe storage, revealing opportunities to expand safety measures across key groups

Washington DC, October 17, 2024—Stop Soldier Suicide, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing service member and veteran suicide, partnered with Ipsos to explore the behaviors of firearm owners in the United States. This research aimed to more deeply understand the approaches participants are currently taking to secure their weapons, what new methods of gun safety they may be willing to utilize, and what might motivate them to change their current behaviors. Questions were included in the February Omnibus survey of the Ipsos KnowledgePanel. A total of 1,017 respondents, with representation from all 50 states, completed the survey, of which 363 (34%) own or have access to a firearm. Notably, 58% of participants who had access to a firearm reported using a gun case, safe, or lockbox. Additionally, those who carry firearms weekly were most likely to use these safe storage methods (77%), while those who carry daily showed a slight decrease in usage (64%).

About the Study

This poll was conducted by Ipsos from February 9 to February 11, 2024, using the probability-based KnowledgePanel^®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,017 adults age 18 or older.

The survey was conducted using KnowledgePanel, the largest and most well-established online probability-based panel that is representative of the adult U.S. population. Our recruitment process employs a scientifically developed addressed-based sampling methodology using the latest Delivery Sequence File of the USPS – a database with full coverage of all delivery points in the U.S. Households invited to join the panel are randomly selected from all available households in the U.S. Persons in the sampled households are invited to join and participate in the panel. Those selected who do not already have internet access are provided a tablet and internet connection at no cost to the panel member. Those who join the panel and who are selected to participate in a survey are sent a unique password-protected log-in used to complete surveys online. As a result of our recruitment and sampling methodologies, samples from KnowledgePanel cover all households regardless of their phone or internet status and findings can be reported with a margin of sampling error and projected to the general population.

The study was conducted in English. The data for the total sample were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race/ethnicity, education, Census region, metropolitan status, and household income. The demographic benchmarks came from the 2023 March Supplement of the Current Population Survey (CPS).

• Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18–29, 30–44, 45-59 and 60+)
• Race/Hispanic Ethnicity (White Non-Hispanic, Black Non-Hispanic, Other, Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, 2+ Races, Non-Hispanic)
• Education (Less than High School, High School, Some College, Bachelor or higher)
• Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West)
• Metropolitan status (Metro, non-Metro)
• Household Income (Under $25,000, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$74,999, $75,000-$99,999, $100,000-$149,999, $150,000+)

The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.11.

About Ipsos

Ipsos is one of the largest market research and polling companies globally, operating in 90 markets and employing over 18,000 people. Our passionately curious research professionals, analysts and scientists have built unique multi-specialist capabilities that provide true understanding and powerful insights into the actions, opinions and motivations of citizens, consumers, patients, customers or employees. Our 75 solutions are based on primary data from our surveys, social media monitoring, and qualitative or observational techniques.

Ipsos is listed on Eurolist – NYSE – Euronext. The company is part of the SBF 120 and the Mid-60 index and is eligible for the Deferred Settlement Service (SRD).

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