“I’m learning that milestones are avery difficult thing to get through in this first year ... Everything hasbecome ‘after Noah’s death,’” said Jodi Sandoval through a stream of tears. Jodi lost her 14-year-old son NoahMcGuire to gun violence in Clintonville, Ohio on July 5, 2012.
Jodi had made the deliberatedecision to keep guns out of her own home in an effort to protect her fivechildren: “I thought that by making a mindful choice not to have guns in my homeor to allow guns in my home, to explain to my kids, explain to Noah, myfeelings on the violent video games, the gun culture, the violence culture -- Ithought that if I said the right things and did the right things that somehowthat would protect him from what happened to him.” But she couldn’t keep Noahsafe when he went on a sleepover at his friend Levi Reed’s grandparents’ home. Levi was also 14 years old that day when hefound and started fooling around with his grandfather’s loaded and unlockedgun.
“Children are curious ... Withguns it just seems common sense is the best measure to take against accidentslike Noah’s death. Totally accidental: His friend pulled the trigger, the magazine wasn’t in the gun, [but] hedidn’t know there was a bullet in the chamber.
Now Jodi is wracked with grief andguilt. “I feel horrible that I had no idea that Noah was playing in a housewhere ... there were guns.” Noah and his family aren’t the only victims ofthis tragic accident. Levi Reed was charged with delinquency and recklesshomicide after accidentally killing his friend, and his life will be foreveraltered and burdened by this tragedy.
Noah’s death, like thousands ofother American children’s deaths, didn’t have to happen. It could very easily have been prevented withcommon sense gun safety and safe gun storage laws and practices by gun owners. In2010, 134 children and teenagers died from accidental shootings, and more than3,000 others suffered accidental gun injuries. Many of the accidental gunvictims and shooters are younger than Levi and Noah. They include children likethree-year-old Darrien Nez, who died in Arizona on April 29 after shootinghimself in the face with a gun he found while playing with his grandmother’sbag. Or two-year-old Caroline Sparks, who was killed at her Kentucky home onApril 30 by her five-year-old brother with a rifle he had been given as abirthday gift. Or two-year-old Sincere Tymere Smith, whose pastor andgrandmother told MSNBC he was known for being inseparable from his father, but whodied after shooting himself in the chest with his father’s gun on Christmasnight. When adults choose to own gunsadults must take responsibility forkeeping their guns locked up and out of the hands of children.
Many Americans are surprised whenthey learn how simple many guns are for even toddlers to fire and that the sametwo-year-old who can’t open a childproof medicine bottle might be able to pulla trigger and shoot herself or someone else. In fact, a 1976 amendment to theConsumer Product Safety Act that the National Rifle Association advocated for specificallyforbids the Consumer Product SafetyCommission (CPSC) from regulating the sale and manufacture of guns, despite thefact that they are one of the most lethal consumer products, killing more than 30,000people a year and injuring 72,000 others. As a result, the CPSC can regulateteddy bears and toy guns but not real guns -- even though common sense designchanges and safety mechanisms like trigger locks can save lives. Eleven statesand the District of Columbia have acted to fill this void, passing lawsrequiring locking devices on some or all firearms. But that means that in 39states, there is no such requirement.
Another common sense answer is childaccess prevention laws, which require gun owners to store their guns so thatchildren and teens can’t access them unsupervised. Studies have found theselaws reduce accidental shootings of children by as much as 23 percent. But only14 states currently have such laws and support of stronger child accessprevention laws is often drowned out by the same loud voices of the gun lobbythat fight background checks and other common sense gun safety measures.
A law requiring Levi Reed’sgrandfather to store his gun safely might have saved Noah McGuire’s life. AsJodi reflected, “Storing your firearms responsibly with constant regard thatthere are children nearby -- if you have children in your home and you havefirearms, then that needs to be on the forefront of your mind at all times.” Enough is enough. It is time for responsibleparents everywhere to make sure everyone in their community stores their gunssafely out of the reach of unsupervised children. And it is time forresponsible citizens everywhere to stand up to the gun lobby and demand thatpoliticians pass common sense gun safety and safe storage laws. Visit the LawCenter to Prevent Gun Violence website to find out whether your state has lawsabout gun locking devices and safe gun storage.