Kaiser Permanente Center Will Help Scale Up Proven S.A.F.E. Firearm Program in Pediatric Well-Child Visits
June 24, 2025
Firearms are the leading cause of death for children, the leading cause of death for pregnant women, and the second leading cause of death for adults ages 18-55. Safe storage of firearms has the potential to dramatically reduce firearm injuries and deaths, especially in children. However, only 2% of doctors report routinely talking to parents about how to securely store their firearms and offering a free cable lock.
Drs. Jennifer Boggs and Julie Angerhofer, Scientists in Residence at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Gun Violence Research and Education, will help to scale up Kaiser Permanente’s use of the S.A.F.E. Firearm program, an evidence-based and effective secure firearm storage program for parents and caregivers of youth ages 5-17. The program was developed by Dr. Rinad Beidas and team at Northwestern University.
Recently, a study led by scientists at Northwestern University, in collaboration with Kaiser Permanente Colorado, University of Pennsylvania, and Henry Ford Health found that implementing the S.A.F.E Firearm program in routine well-child visits resulted in positive outcomes for families and clinicians.
S.A.F.E. Firearm was designed to respect the rights of firearm owners, and this was reflected by a survey that showed nearly all parents reported it was high acceptable to discuss firearm safety during well-child visits.
At the Kaiser Permanente Colorado site, in 40,000 visits, about 12,000 firearm locks were distributed, illustrating high uptake of the program.
Preliminary evidence illustrates an increase in parent-reported secure storage of firearms after receiving the program.
Funding for this study, which was published in JAMA Pediatrics, was provided by the National Institute of Mental Health, part of the National Institutes of Health and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Read more at Northwestern Now and learn more at S.A.F.E. Firearm.