Scaling Secure Firearm Storage: A Multi-Sector Device Distribution and Training Program

Christina Delgado, MN, DNP
Tihetna Felege, MPH
Gloria Vidal, MPH
Isabell Sakamoto, MS

Firearm injuries are a leading cause of death among children and adolescents in the United States, with unintentional shootings and firearm-related suicide representing significant and preventable contributors to this burden. Secure firearm storage is an evidence-based strategy to reduce access to firearms by individuals in crisis, including pediatrics. A well-established secure firearm storage program by a children’s hospital with a strong foundation of community trust, partnerships, and evidence-based practice in firearm injury prevention developed a new program component in 2023 with funding from a state agency. The goal was to expand reach and equip diverse partner organizations with tailorable resources to independently implement culturally relevant models in their own communities.

Multi-sector partner organizations within the hospital’s state were recruited including education, public health, healthcare, community-based organizations, tribal nations, and organizations serving service members, veterans and their families (SMVF). Organizations received at least one of three toolkits — a community organization, event or healthcare provider toolkit — along with a 60-90 minute in-person, virtual or hybrid training, a demo kit, complimentary firearm locking devices and ongoing technical assistance. Afterwards, participants were expected to implement their own secure storage efforts in community or clinical settings reaching parents, teens and families. Program reach was tracked by county, organization type, and number of devices distributed.

To date, this program component has distributed over 11,000 firearm locking devices to partner organizations across more than 27 counties. Collaborative reach demonstrates the program’s broad replicability beyond a single institution. Program evaluation and quality improvement efforts are ongoing and include an immediate post-training survey measuring training utility and readiness for implementation and a six-month follow-up survey and interview assessing training and toolkit suitability, barriers to implementation and adaptations made for specific populations. To date, most participants report that the training is very useful, and more than half feel ready to implement their own program following the training. The most common barrier to implementing and sustaining their own program is lack of funding, and participants suggest adapting materials to account for differing gun cultures and policies across regions.

A toolkit-based, multi-sector model for secure firearm storage education and device distribution can achieve substantial community reach across diverse populations, including those that have been historically underserved by traditional injury prevention programming. Equipping partner organizations with training, resources, and devices rather than relying on institution-led events represents a scalable and replicable approach to reducing firearm injury risk among children, adolescents and families. These findings have implications for injury prevention practitioners seeking to expand community-level impact with limited institutional resources.

1. Describe the components of a secure firearm storage program toolkit designed for independent implementation by diverse partner organizations.
2. Identify strategies for meaningfully engaging cross-sector partners in firearm injury prevention efforts.
3. Apply lessons from this program’s dissemination model to expand secure firearm storage initiatives within their own communities or organizations.