More than 2 million American children live in homes with unsecured guns. Rather than being used for self-defense, guns in the home are 22 times more likely to be involved in accidental shootings, homicides, or suicide attempts–and too often, children are the victims.
In an analysis of unintentional child gun deaths over the 12-month period after the Sandy Hook mass shootings, a report titled “Innocents Lost: A Year of Unintentional Child Gun Deaths,” by Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action, found:
- At least 100 children killed–almost two per week–which was 61% higher than reported by the federal government.
- 84% of the deaths occurred in the home or vehicle of the victim’s family or in the home of a friend or relative.
- 70% of the deaths could have been prevented if the gun had been locked up and unloaded.
Stronger laws to prevent children from accessing unsecured guns would help reduce these child gun deaths. Because New York State currently has no child access prevention/safe storage law, NYAGV is advocating for the enactment of Nicholas’s Law, which will require the safe storage of guns not in the immediate possession of the owner.
The law is named for Nicholas Naumkin, a 12-year-old from Saratoga, NY, who was shot and killed on a playdate by a friend who had discovered his father’s loaded and unlocked 9 mm handgun.
Nicholas Naumkin
Help us pass Nicholas’s Law to prevent child gun deaths:
- Send a message directly to your NYS Senate and Assembly representatives.
- Sign the petition for Nicholas’s Law.
- Add your organization to the NYS Coalition to Prevent Child Access to Guns–just email nyagv@nyagv.org.
- Make a donation to NYAGV to help our advocacy efforts for Nicholas’s Law.
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