Last Friday, participants on a Zoom call watched in horror as a Florida woman was killed on camera, shot in the head by her own toddler. The child had found a loaded gun, kept in the apartment unsecured.[1]
Each year, hundreds of innocent children die and others face lifelong guilt and trauma—all because adults in their lives did not lock up their firearms.[2] Pennsylvania is no exception: In February, a 10-year-old in Swatara Township accidentally shot and killed his 12-year-old brother.[3] This summer, two Philadelphia children died within a week of one another from self-inflicted gunshot wounds.[4]
As Pennsylvania’s gun violence crisis rages and firearms sales soar, more children are in danger. Safe gun storage laws require gun owners to safely store firearms when not in use. But Pennsylvania is among a minority of states that have not enacted such laws to prevent children’s access to firearms. Tell your state senator: Support safe storage legislation SB 581.[5]
Studies show that having a gun in the house greatly ups the risk of accidental shootings (not to mention homicide and suicide), especially in houses with young people. Almost half (42%) of suicides among teenagers use a firearm. 4.6 million minors across the United States have access to at least one loaded and unlocked firearm in their house[6] and around 35-40% of homes with children have at least one firearm.
Fortunately, studies also show that gun storage laws work. For example, states with laws requiring safe gun storage have lower rates of suicide among adolescents,[7] and such laws effectively reduce accidental gun injuries in children and youths.[8]
