Perceived Neighborhood Safety and Firearm Secure Storage: Findings from the 2024 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System

Background Secure firearm storage (i.e., keeping firearms locked and ammunition stored separately) is an established means of reducing risks of suicide, unintentional injury, and homicide. While prior research has examined demographic and household factors associated with storage practices, less is known about how contextual factors, such as perceived neighborhood safety from crime, influence storage behavior. Methods Data were drawn from the 2024 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), a nationally coordinated, state-based survey administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Analyses were restricted to respondents in firearm-owning households from ten states ( n  = 18,443). Firearm storage was categorized as: (1) unloaded [safest], (2) loaded and locked [intermediate risk], or (3) loaded and unlocked [unsafe storage practice]. Perceived neighborhood safety from crime was classified as extremely safe, safe, or unsafe (unsafe and extremely unsafe combined). Multinomial logistic regression models were used to assess the associations between perceived neighborhood safety and firearm storage. Results Most respondents stored firearms unloaded (63.2%), followed by loaded and locked (19.8%) and loaded and unlocked (17.0%). Compared with those who perceived their neighborhoods as extremely safe, respondents who perceived them as unsafe or extremely unsafe had a higher relative risk of storing firearms loaded and unlocked (RRR = 1.773; 95% CI: 1.240–2.536). Conclusions Firearm injury prevention initiatives addressing individual storage practices should consider the role of community-level perceptions of safety through the integration of public health and violence prevention strategies.