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Department of Psychology College of Arts and Sciences

Firearms Safety

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Firearms are among the leading causes of child death in the United States. Sadly, many of those deaths are due to suicide or homicide, but a substantial number are due to unintentional causes.

To prevent those accidental deaths, the UAB Youth Safety lab partnered with Digital Artefacts and videographer Gregory Taylor to create ShootSafe, an engaging website designed to teach children ages 10-12 about firearms safety through stories, videos, and interactive games. We are currently evaluating the efficacy of ShootSafe in a randomized controlled trial.

Sample Publications

  • Schwebel, D. C. (in press). Unintentional firearms mortality disparities across states – United States, 2001-2021. Injury Prevention.
  • Schwebel, D. C. (2023). The forgotten facet of firearms safety: Unintentional gun injuries and deaths. Frontiers in Public Health, 11, 1137725.
  • Schwebel, D. C., Long, D. L., Gowey, M., Severson, J., He, Y., & Trullinger, K. (2021). Study protocol: Developing and evaluating an interactive web platform to teach children hunting, shooting and firearms safety: A randomized controlled trial. BMC Public Health, 21, 308.
  • Ladapo, J. A., Elliott, M. N., Kanouse, D. E., Schwebel, D. C., Toomey, S. L., Mrug, S., Cuccaro, P. M., Tortolero, S. R., & Schuster, M. A. (2016). Firearm ownership and acquisition among parents with risk factors for self-harm or other violence. Academic Pediatrics, 16, 742-749.
  • Schwebel, D. C., Lewis, T., Simon, T. R., Elliott, M. N., Toomey, S. L., Tortolero, S. R., Cuccaro, P. M., & Schuster, M. A. (2014). Prevalence and correlates of firearm ownership in the homes of fifth graders: Birmingham, AL, Houston, TX, and Los Angeles, CA. Health Education and Behavior, 41, 299-306.