Putting Safety First in the Firearm Policy Debate

“The single most modifiable risk factor for firearm injury is access. And that’s one thing we don’t necessarily talk enough about. When we think about firearm policy, we have to think about how people get access to their firearms … With every handgun purchase, there is a secure device that is provided with those, but what type of secure device is mandated with that? Is it appropriate for that? Is it appropriate for the firearm owner? Does the firearm owner even utilize that?

“There are lots of different layers that we’re still unpacking and determining for the firearm owner because again, it all comes down to access and making sure that unauthorized users do not have access to that firearm.”

—Sandra McKay, M.D., FAAP, Huffington Fellow in Child Health Policy, Baker Institute

About the Episode

Drs. Sandra McKay and Eric Fleegler, both experts in the Baker Institute Firearm Injury Prevention and Safety Program, joined “Baker Briefing” to discuss the worsening gun injury epidemic ahead of our fourth annual firearm injury prevention conference on June 6. 

They discussed areas of consensus among firearm-owners and non-owners alike, including child access prevention laws and age purchasing regulations, and prospects for commonsense gun legislation at the Texas and national levels.

This conversation was recorded on May 20, 2025. 

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Mentioned in this episode:

• Christopher F. Kulesza et al., “The State of Student Mental Health in Houston Schools,” Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, May 13, 2025, https://doi.org/10.25613/6823-6W19.

Transcript

A full transcript of this episode is available here. This transcript was AI-generated and has not been through editorial review.

About ‘Baker Briefing’

Hosted by David M. Satterfield,  the “Baker Briefing” podcast delivers timely analysis on breaking policy developments and other critical policy issues of the day in conversations with experts at the Baker Institute. New episodes are released weekly.

Select episodes of “Baker Briefing” are recorded in front of a live audience at Rice University in Houston, Texas. These recordings are free and open to the public. To learn about upcoming recordings and other public programming from the Baker Institute, subscribe to our “Events Digest” newsletter, delivered weekly.

This material may be quoted or reproduced without prior permission, provided appropriate credit is given to the author(s) and Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. The views expressed herein are those of the individual author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.