About Half Of Gun-Owning IL Parents Keep Firearms Loaded: Study

CHICAGO, IL — Nearly half of parents in Chicago who own guns do not unload them before storing them, according to a recent study.

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital released the results of a gun safety study Thursday. The hospital surveyed 1,505 parents from all 77 Chicago neighborhoods about firearm safety and gun violence.

Twenty-two percent of Chicago parents reported having a firearm in their home. Of these, 46 percent said they store their guns loaded.

A majority of their parents, 89 percent, said their firearms are stored and locked.

Two-thirds of parents who keep guns in their homes said they have them for protection.

Lurie Children's recommends that if parents keep guns in the home, they should store them unloaded and locked, with ammunition stored and locked separately.