Cross-posted from New Yorkers Against Gun Violence web site:
PROBLEM: Researchers have found that millions of children live in homes with easily accessible guns. The presence of unlocked guns in the home increases the risk of accidental gun injuries, intentional shootings and suicides. New York State currently has no law specifically penalizing a person who enables a child to access a firearm.
SOLUTION: New York needs a child access prevention (CAP) law to impose criminal liability on adults who negligently leave firearms accessible to children or otherwise allow children access to firearms. Child access prevention/safe storage laws save lives by reducing accidental shootings and suicides and also by preventing theft of guns that end up in the illegal market. New Yorkers Against Gun Violence (NYAGV) is advocating for the enactment of A.53/S.2291, Nicholas’s Law: The Child Access Prevention or Safe Weapon Storage Act , which would require the safe storage of guns not in the immediate possession of the owner.
TAKE ACTION!
- Go to the New Yorkers for Gun Violence Take Action page and find out how you can support Nicholas’s Law.
- Read more about A.53/S.2291, Nicholas’s Law: The Child Access Prevention or Safe Weapon Storage Act.
- Read more about children and guns on our Resources page under “Children and Gun Violence,” including fact sheets on Child Access to Guns, Children and Guns in New York, and Child Access Prevention Laws.
