Gun Storage Week – A Reminder to Properly Secure Your Firearms

June 1-7 has been designated “Gun Storage Check Week” by NSSF, The Firearm Industry Trade Association. With that in mind, I want to look at the prevalence of current laws that regulate the storage of a firearm, a different take on why we should secure our firearms, and how you can support this new initiative if you feel so inclined.

27 States Have Laws Requiring The Storage of Firearms Or Penalties if A Child Accesses a Gun

As of this writing, 27 states have laws that require firearms to be securely stored at least some of the time or that provide for legal consequences if a minor accesses an unsecured firearm.

My state of Colorado just revised and reinforced our storage law by extending it to a vehicle. While the exact legislation varies from state to state the rough idea is to require the gun to be secure when a child may or is likely to access the firearm. A handful of states like Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Oregon go so far as to require the firearm to be securely stored anytime the gun isn't in the owner's immediate control.

I think it is likely that we'll see these kinds of laws continue to spread across the nation.

RESOURCE: See if your state has a firearm storage regulation

I Do Not Support The Regulation But I Do Observe The Problem

I think that broadly speaking, these laws are unhelpful and do very little to reduce violence and risk. These laws introduce the ability for law enforcement to intrude into one's abode and press criminal charges based on one's own decisions about the best way to stage and or store a firearm.

My experience is that responsible gun owners already secure their firearms when they aren't in use or have a good reason not to. Also, I think irresponsible gun owners don't care about the laws that tell them they need to lock it up.

Photo:Screen grab from FN promo video.

This Isn't Just About Kids

I like to remind gun owners that the question of secure storage is not solely about children. While certainly, the presence of children should be a serious consideration for one's firearm storage policies, it isn't the only consideration.

Theft has to be a consideration. The primary means of illegally obtaining a firearm is to steal it and guns are at the top of the list of things they are looking for when they invade a home or vehicle for financial gain.

Additionally, consider that more than 1/2 of all firearm-related deaths in America are suicides; and firearms are the number 1 most common method of successful suicides. It might be you, but it could be someone else in your social circle or the social circle of a family member.

Additionally, there is the real possibility that one might access a gun in a semi-asleep state. It sounds weird but I've seen several incidents in the last few years of people accessing their firearm and shooting themselves or a loved one because they weren't awake enough to fully understand the situation. Leaving a loaded gun on a nightstand for access during the night can have horrible consequences.

RESOURCE: Keeping a Gun on the Nightstand

As a Community, We Need to Do A Better Job

Ultimately, if we don't want to be regulated into submission, we need to police ourselves into responsible gun ownership. Talk to members of your family and close friends and ask their thoughts about securing their firearms.

Inviting dialogue and expressing our opinions with people within our close circle of acquaintances can be a good way to educate and inform more people.

For those of you who are firearm instructors and trainers, consider if your basic firearm class curriculum contains quality instruction about the importance of and best methods of securing firearms.

How You Can Participate in Gun Storage Week

If you are interested in spreading the good word and supporting this campaign you can find promotional assets, including social media images and other resources on the NSSF website GunStorageCheck.org