Survey research backs her up. In a recent article in Science magazine, researcher Susan Sorenson of the University of California at Los Angeles reported that over half of Americans surveyed believe that guns are already regulated for safety. Other safety regulations, such as making guns childproof or designing them so that only authorized users can fire them, also draw strong support. The Federation aims to translate that support into action. Meanwhile, the Federation will brief policymakers and the media on legislative options.
Some steps are already underway.
Maryland has a Governor's Task Force preparing recommendations for mandatory safety features, including childproofing, for all guns sold in the state. If that doesn't work, Attorney General Joseph Curran will look at using his consumer protection powers to regulate firearms, as his counterpart in Massachusetts, former Attorney General Scott Harshbarger, did in 1997. Curran's aide, Carolyn Quattrocki, says the Attorney General is taking a comprehensive approach. We're looking at different categories of injuries and trying to see what we can do. Taking a consumer product approach isn't just about unintentional injury, which accounts for less than 5 percent of gun deaths each year.