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ANAHEIM, Calif. – The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is embracing a new strategy in its advocacy against firearm violence: Harm reduction is now the major focus, and the fight for strict gun control is taking a back seat.

The academy is "acknowledging that people own guns and shifting our stance from being anti-gun to ... being pro-kid," said AAP President-elect Ben Hoffman, MD, of Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine in Portland, speaking at the organization's here.

At a news briefing about the updated , which was published in Pediatrics, Hoffman, a co-author of the document, highlighted how firearm violence is the leading cause of death of children and young people in the U.S., based on data from a about firearms-related injuries and death, also published in Pediatrics.

The policy statement, AAP's first to address firearms since 2012, emphasizes strategies to prevent injury and reduce harm: "Clinicians should educate themselves and their patients and families about the increased risks of unintentional and intentional firearm injuries and deaths with increased access to firearms in the home and in the community," the document states. "Firearms should be regulated and designed to decrease the risk of unauthorized users being able to use the firearm. Federal and state legislation must be enacted to increase the safety of firearms and decrease access to those at risk for harming themselves or others."

In contrast, included support for "the regulation of the manufacture, sale, purchase, ownership, and use of firearms; a ban on semiautomatic assault weapons; and the strongest possible regulations of handguns for civilian use."

At the news briefing, another co-author of the new policy statement, Lois K. Lee, MD, MPH, of Boston Children's Hospital and chair of AAP's Council on Injury, Violence, and Poison Prevention, said the new document emphasizes a "multi-pronged strategy to decrease injuries and deaths -- really providing layers of barriers to firearm access for those at risk."

This approach is similar to drowning prevention, which focuses on a series of barriers to keep young children away from danger, she explained. "We need barriers so that children and youth who shouldn't access [firearms] don't have easy access."

Regarding how the statement fits in with calls for strict firearm restrictions, Lee told MedPage Today in an interview that because the document focuses on harm reduction to children at the individual and the larger environmental level, "we also include legislative approaches to decrease access of firearms to those at risk for harming others -- i.e., risk for committing homicide -- or at risk for harming themselves -- i.e., risk for suicide. This includes laws for stronger background checks, which are supported by more than 90% of Americans, wider adoption of Extreme Risk Protection Order laws, and safer firearm storage laws."

She added that AAP also supports the development of "smart guns" that allow only authorized users to fire them.

Multiple medical organizations, including the American Medical Association (AMA), have declared firearm violence a "public health crisis" and called for reform. Earlier this year, delegates at AMA's annual meeting that supports "regulating homemade weapons known as 'ghost guns,'" a policy to "research warning labels on ammunition packages," and a policy aimed at "considering the mental health of schoolchildren as they engage in active-shooter drills."