New study shines light on need for gun storage laws
By Jeffery M. Leving SM
A new study from the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun
Violence Solutions analyzing 2021 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data indicates what many have feared, that America’s gun violence epidemic has gotten worse.
In total, 4,752 young lives were claimed by guns, surpassing the record total seen during the first year of the pandemic. The study showed that more than 80% of gun deaths were among males aged 19 and younger.
This is the second consecutive year that gun-related injuries are the leading cause of death among children and adolescents, surpassing car crashes, drug overdoses and cancer. Nearly two-thirds of the gun deaths in 2021 were homicides, although unintentional shootings have killed many children.
Perhaps what is most troubling is that many of these child gun deaths could have been prevented if the gun owner had the firearms secured in a locked container, properly engaged so as to render the firearm inaccessible or unusable to any person other than the owner or other lawfully authorized user.
While storing firearms securely may seem like common sense, unfortunately there have been enough tragedies to merit the passage of laws to spur gun owners to action.
In recent months, a 3-year-old in Florida died after shooting himself with a handgun. In California, a 3-yearold killed his 1-year-old sister with a handgun. A 2-year-old in Michigan died after finding an !unsecured firearm.” Just last week, a 6-year-old in Florida was fatally shot by a 9year-old. And here in Chicago, an 8-year-old boy was killed in Lawndale on August 15 after another boy found a gun inside a home and shot him.
In June, Evanston became one of the few municipalities to pass a law where gun owners who are found to have improperly stored their firearms at home will face stiff fines and civil liability. The Evanston ordinance requires gun owners to meet specific definitions of safe storage, which include locking guns in a container or gun room or securing it with an engaged trigger or cable lock. Under the act, gun owners will be fined between $1,000 and
$2,000 per violation, and are subject to civil liability if their unsecured gun is used to harm a person or property.
This is a good step, but much more needs to be done.
While similar laws would unlikely pass at national level because of the bipartisan bickering in Congress, there is a chance such a law can pass in Illinois. However, even in a Blue-state such as Illinois, this is not a given, as it has failed before.
House Bill 2254, known as the Safe Gun Storage bill, was proposed in the Illinois Legislature in 2019, but died in the House Rules Committee at the end of the legislative session.
While Illinois is considered by the Everytown for Gun Safety organization to have the 7th strongest gun laws in the nation overall, it now has only a rather limited measure penalizing access to guns by children under the age of 14.
The American Academy of Pediatrics reports that about one-third of American children live in homes with firearms and that in 43% of those homes at least one gun is unlocked.
Given this information, it is our civic duty to push legislators in Illinois to either bring back House Bill 2254 or create a new, similar bill that would force gun owners to store their weapons properly so that children cannot access them.
Passing laws to ensure safe gun storage is especially important for families of divorce, as some parents may not be on the same page when it comes to gun safety. And while simply passing a law will never mean that everyone adheres to it, passing such laws will also result in more awareness and press coverage, which in turn will get more people to act responsibly.
It is also important to note that any bill calling for safe gun storage is not an infringement on legal gun ownership. Proposals to ensure guns are stored safely should be something welcomed by all responsible gun owners — and signed into law in Illinois as soon as possible.
Attorney Jeffery M. Leving is the recipient of President Biden’s 2023 Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award.
Leving, who has dedicated his career to safeguarding children and reuniting them with their fathers, has written three acclaimed books: “Fathers’ Rights,” “Divorce Wars” and “How to be a Good Divorced Dad,” the latter of which was praised by President Obama and by Cardinal Francis E. George, then the Archbishop of Chicago. Follow Jeffery Leving on Facebook and X @DadsRights.
Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
Email Ray Hanania at rghanania@gmail.com.
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