Strengthening firearm storage laws will save young lives in Illinois

Late last month, a Chicago family confronted the unimaginable after 8-year-old Josiah Hooker died and his 5-year-old brother was injured when police say they accessed a gun left unattended at a South Side home.

Josiah and children across Illinois are growing up in a society where gun violence remains the leading cause of their death and where one in three children lives in a home with a gun. With this level of gun ownership, too many preventable tragedies are unfolding because guns get into the hands of children and at-risk people.

Seven years ago, the Gun Violence Prevention PAC of Illinois and other committed advocates united behind the Our One Job campaign with a simple mission: Keep kids safe from gun violence. This call to action is a value that knows no boundaries — no exclusions by ZIP codes, race, politics or religion.

We all love our children and want to see them grow up.

Since then, the Illinois Gun Violence Prevention movement has consistently championed lifesaving policies to curb illegal guns and the damage they inflict on families and communities. While we've made progress in reducing homicide and violence rates, the presence of guns remains ubiquitous in our society, with not enough protections in our laws to stop tragedies.

Studies prove that unsecured firearms and guns that are lost and stolen are fueling horrific incidents like the one that claimed Josiah’s life as well as suicide, mass shootings and crime in our communities.

This gun violence is preventable, and we can do more to stop it this spring by passing the Safe At Home legislation in Springfield that will better prevent children, at-risk individuals and criminals from accessing deadly firearms and inflicting tragedy and violence.

This legislation was introduced as Senate Bill 8 and House Bill 3688 and is sponsored by state Sens. Laura Ellman, D-Naperville, and Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, and state Reps. Maura Hirschauer, D-Batavia, and Kevin Olickal, D-Skokie. It will enhance what it means to safely store weapons in Illinois and strengthen reporting requirements for gun owners when their weapons are lost and stolen.

Working together, these safety measures will promote more responsible gun ownership by improving safe gun storage practices and ensuring that lost and stolen guns are promptly reported to law enforcement authorities.

We need to do everything we can to secure weapons and keep our families safe in their homes. The statistics bear out the weaknesses in our current laws.

Fifty-four percent of gun owners don’t lock all their guns securely, according to Johns Hopkins, and every year, 350 children under the age of 18 unintentionally shoot themselves or others, Brady United found.

In three-quarters of school shootings, the U.S. Secret Service found the shooter acquired the firearm from their parents or other relatives. In cases of teen gun suicide, an estimated 82% involve a gun belonging to a family member, according to Johns Hopkins.

Additionally, every year, over 380,000 firearms are stolen from their lawful owners, and a University of California, Davis study found guns reported lost were three times more likely to be used in crimes, while stolen guns were nine times more likely to be used in crimes.

The impact that Safe At Home laws can have on these grim statistics is clear. In states with strong secure storage laws, unintentional shootings by children decreased 78%, according to Everytown for Gun Safety. Laws with strong reporting requirements for lost and stolen weapons helped decrease the movement of illegal guns in communities by 46%, the nonprofit found.

Much has changed since Our One Job was formed in 2017, but our values and commitment remain steadfast. We all deserve to feel safe at home and see our children thrive. Our One Job continues this spring, and we urge Illinois leaders to move quickly.

When it comes to our children’s lives, there’s no time to waste.

Kathleen Sances, president and CEO, Gun Violence Prevention PAC of Illinois

The views and opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Chicago Sun-Times or any of its affiliates.

The Sun-Times welcomes letters to the editor and op-eds. See our guidelines.

Get Opinions content delivered to your inbox.