Reduce Firearm Related Injuries on the Tohono O’Odham Indian Reservation Through the Distribution of Gun Safes George Hupp, RN, BSN, PHN

Purpose Restrict unauthorized access to firearms in the home.

Background The illegal use of firearms has been reported in several incidents on the reservation Incidents involved firearms that were illegally obtained.

Location The Tohono O’Odham reservation is located in Southeast Arizona covering 75 miles of the US and Mexico border.

U.S.- Mexico Border

Methods Tohono O’Odham police reports CDC Injury Prevention data Door to Door survey Education presented at health fairs

Logistics Funds obtained from Tucson Area Division of Environmental Health and Engineering, Injury Prevention Purchased 20 gun safes from Cabela’s Safes arrived unassembled Assembly averaged 45 minutes per safe

Ready for Distribution

Safes were transported 5 at a time via pick up truck to the gun owner’s home The safe was placed inside the home and all firearms were properly stored at time of visit

Focus on Long guns instead of Handguns Handguns are used for home defense and the owners prefer to have their weapons in close reach and easily accessible Handguns can be stored out of sight, out of reach children by much simpler means

Handgun specific storage units are expensive Type of storage units preferred use simple touch combinations or fingerprint recognition These units price between $400 - $700

Owner rational to use these types units is because less expensive units require number combinations or keys. Under duress of a home evasion it would be difficult to remember a lengthy combination or to use a key to unlock a small storage unit.

Trigger Locks Tohono O’Odham Police Department has a trigger lock distribution program that has not been very popular Gun owners are hesitant about going to the police to ask for the trigger locks Trigger locks do render the firearm temporarily inoperable but do not prevent them from being stolen

Trigger locks require the use of a small key to remove It would be likely that the owner would fumble with the key under duress which would give the attacker time to forcibly overcome the owner

PHN Role in Firearm Safety As Public Health Nurse I have the unique opportunity to visit tribal members in their homes and around the community and establish a good rapport Home visits not only cover health teaching but also home safety assessments The home safety assessments allowed me to inquire about safe firearm storage

Follow up 10 safes have been distributed Follow-up visits were made to 6 recipients of the gun safes Of those 6, 100% continue to store their firearms in the safe, and are satisfied with the product and plan to continue their use of the safe

Plans Research more funding sources Obtain additional gun safes Keep the project going