Included in the analysis were data from 4,030 respondents, 7.5 percent of whom said they had ever discussed firearm safety with a provider. The proportion was slightly higher, 12. 0 percent, among those who were living children, as compared to 5 percent of those in homes without children.

Of those who had discussed firearms with a provider, 48 percent said that locking all firearms was discussed at their most recent visit, 31.8 percent said that storing ammunition separately from firearms was discussed and 15.9 percent said that removing firearms from the home as covered. When the patient was a child just 4.1 percent reported discussing removing firearms.

Dr. Paul Nestadt welcomed the new study.

“This is such an important paper,” said Dr. Nestadt, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. “It’s a big deal that it’s in the Annals.”

“It’s particularly important right now in the context of the 2020 pandemic and everything else that has happened this year,” Dr. Nestadt said. “There has been a dramatic run on guns. There are more new gun owners this year than there have been since people have been keeping track. There was a huge spike in March that has continued month after month with a new record in June.”

This big increase in gun ownership is different from the ones that preceded it, Dr. Nestadt said. “For the first time ever, there have been more new gun buyers in Democratic states,” he added. “One new survey found that about half of gun buyers during the pandemic are new gun buyers. And they are at a high risk for problems. About half never had safety training and 42 percent had a gun unlocked with kids in the house.”

That makes it even more important for physicians to talk to patients about guns, Dr. Nestadt said. “Especially in areas where they are not used to having the conversation,” he added. “Now there are new owners in blue states and urban areas. These are not traditional gun buyers.”