New Poll Finds Many Kentuckians Keep Guns Unlocked and Loaded at Home

A new poll has been released that shows that nearly 60 percent of Kentucky homes with children have firearms. This poll is the latest from the Kentucky Health Issues Poll (KHIP), released this week.

Despite expert advice that guns in homes with children should be kept unloaded and securely locked away in a location separate from the bullets, 12 percent of the homes that have both children and guns reported that they keep guns loaded and unlocked.

The report found that 55 percent of all Kentucky adults keep guns at home. Thirty percent say the firearm is unloaded, 10 percent say it’s loaded and locked, and 15 percent say it’s loaded and unlocked.

KHIP is an annual poll of Kentucky adults about health issues and is funded jointly by the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky and Interact for Health.

In 2015, 694 Kentuckians died from a firearm injury. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that if you are keeping a firearm at home with a child the firearm should be unloaded and securely locked in storage away from the ammunition.

What about you? Do you think that a firearm should be locked and/or unloaded when in the home with your children? Do you keep your guns loaded around your family? Let us know in the comments below.