Posted: | December 18, 2014 12:15 PM |
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From: | Representative Tim Briggs |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | Child Access Prevention |
In the near future, I plan to reintroduce “The Pennsylvania Child Safety Through Personal Responsibility Act” (HB 916 of last session) which will require owners of firearms to be responsible when children are present and store them securely. Failure to comply will result in criminal penalties. These penalties will not only be enforced if a crime with the firearm occurs, but the owners can be charged with a summary offense if a child is found in possession of a firearm. Legislation of this kind if often referred to as “child access prevention.” As a parent, I strive to protect my children from harm at any cost. Yet, too often firearms are stored in a location accessible to children, and I feel that this is irresponsible gun ownership. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 5,000 children were killed in accidents involving firearms between 1990 and 2005. In 2005 alone, more than 16,000 suffered injuries as a result of accidents involving guns. If these guns had been secure, many of these tragedies could have been avoided. On more than one occasion in recent years, we in Pennsylvania have seen the tragic results of what happens when children and teenagers are able to access guns owned by adults. This law will not affect responsible, safe, law-abiding gun owners. I recognize that the majority of Pennsylvanians who own firearms take proper measures to ensure that their firearms are kept safely away from children. This law is meant to penalize irresponsible firearm owners who put all Pennsylvanians at risk. Previous Co-Sponsors: COHEN, YOUNGBLOOD, BROWNLEE, KINSEY, THOMAS, O'BRIEN, SCHLOSSBERG, MUNDY, V. BROWN, FRANKEL, SIMS, ROEBUCK and FABRIZIO |
Introduced as HB415