CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Many North Carolinians don't safely secure their guns at home, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In many cases, those guys are left loaded and not locked away while children are in those homes. Gun safety advocates say keeping weapons safely secured at home decreases the risk of them ending up in the wrong hands, including children.
The CDC's report focused on gun storage practices in eight states from 2021 and 2022. They include Alaska, California, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, and Oklahoma. Researchers found at least one loaded gun was left unsecured in at least 25% of homes. The report says about 44% of North Carolinians with a gun in or around their home reported that a firearm was stored while loaded. More than half kept those loaded guns unlocked and one-third had children present in their homes.
Researchers say the presence of a gun in a home is linked to the increased risk of deadly shootings and suicides. In addition, North Carolina's Child Fatality Task Force reported that from 2019-2021, the rate of gun deaths among children and teens more than doubled in the state.
Neal Conner, the general manager of Hyatt Guns, says gun locks will go a long way to protect weapons from theft or someone getting hurt.
"For us, the most important thing is responsible gun storage," Conner said. "It's not just about buying a gun from us. It's buying the ability to store, make responsible decisions, make sure you're limiting access to anybody who has ill will or a minor, somebody who should not have access to that."
Conner says that along with proper storage, safety education is key to preventing tragedies. Gun owners should also speak to their kids about gun safety.
In North Carolina, there is no law requiring that unattended guns be stored in a certain way. However, if a minor gets access to a gun whether it is loaded or unloaded the gun owner can be held liable and face criminal charges.
The report says, in part:
“Roughly once every day in the United States, a child under the age of 18 gains access to a loaded gun and unintentionally shoots themselves or someone else. But there is no such thing as an accidental shooting by a child – the onus to store guns securely and keep them out of reach of children is always on adults,” said Sarah Burd-Sharps, Senior Director of Research at Everytown for Gun Safety. “Today’s CDC report demonstrates clearly that far too many gun owners are failing to properly secure their firearms. The CDC must make these firearm storage questions mandatory across all 50 states to ensure our communities have the targeted information we need to develop public education campaigns and, ultimately, save kids’ lives.”
Contact Jesse Pierre at jpierrepet@wcnc.com or follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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