"They're too smart for that": predicting what children would do in the presence of guns.

Objectives: We examined parents' beliefs about how children would react to finding guns, with particular emphasis on how parents reasoned about children's actions.

Methods: Based on a randomized telephone survey of Northeast Ohio residents, we focused on the 317 urban and 311 rural respondents who had children 5 to 15 years old in their homes. Respondents were asked about gun ownership and their expectations of how children would react to finding guns.