Later that same summer, teens playing with a gun that a boy found in a Cincinnati alley resulted the death of a 14-year-old boy. The 16-year-old shooter was convicted of reckless homicide.
As of June this year, the number of children nationwide, (ages 0 to 11) killed or injured by gun violence is 292. That number is 1,461 for children ages 12-17, according to Gun Violence Archive, a not for profit corporation formed in 2013 to provide free date about gun-related violence.
In 2015, the total number of children, ages 0-17, killed or injured by gun violence was 3,396.
The officers who investigate these cases and deal with keeping guns safe from children in their own homes every day say education is key along with locking up weapons from little ones and teens.
“Lock your guns up, but teach your children about gun safety and what a gun can do,” said Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones.
The sheriff is one of four brothers and a sister who grew up in Hamilton, where his father was a Hamilton police officer.
“To police officers a gun is like a saw to a carpenter,” Jones said, noting he and his siblings grew up knowing about guns and were taught how to use guns.
“My father kept his loaded gun on the coffee table,” Jones said. “He trusted us around his gun and he should not have.”
Jones, who is a father and grandfather, said he does secure his weapons at home now, which can prevent accidental shootings by curious youths. But, he added, if a teen wants to get a gun to commit a crime they will, whether they buy it or find it at a home where weapons are not secured.
Hamilton Police Officer Kristy Collins spends summer days teaching safety to 4- and 5-year-olds at Safety Town. The popular program run by Greater Hamilton Safety Council teaches youth how to cross the street, ride on the school bus, stay safe around strangers and ride bicycles safely. Gun safety was added a few years ago at the suggestion of a concerned parent.
The message is simple but drilled into the very young minds.
“If you see a gun in any room of your home, your grandparent’s home, or a friend’s home, what do you do?” Collins asks the group.
“Stop, don’t touch, leave the area and tell an adult,” is the group answer.
Middletown Maj. Mark Hoffman said he too grew up with guns in the house that were not locked up. But when he became a police officer with children of his own, locking weapons up was a must and so was education.
“If you have children and you have guns then you should familiarize your kids with guns because it takes the mystique way from them,” Hoffman said. “Teach them to respect guns, the consequences and the outcome of misusing them and then you keep them secure.”
A combination safe, provided children cannot get the combination, or lock “with the key in your pocket,” are two good ways to secure weapons from children, Hoffman said.
There are plenty of options to secure guns, from the basic gun lock that prevents loading the weapon to heavy duty safes with plenty of space for both guns and accessories, according to Mike Reed, owner of Right 2 Arm Firearms in Liberty Twp.
The gun safes, some concealed as a mantel with magnetic openers, and others that open with the swipe of a programmed fingerprint, are now available. They range in price for a basic gun safe at $50 all the way up to thousands of dollars.
“If you have kids, you have to lock (your guns) up,” Reed said.
But he added that teaching them about proper handling of a gun is also very important.
“Let them touch (guns), know what they can do. Talk about (guns) and how to safely handle them, then make sure (the guns) are secure,” he said.
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