Take it from Shaq: Right to Carry – Duty to Secure
Bad things happen when the unauthorized get your guns
The RF FACTOR would like to take the opportunity today to give a big tip-o-the-hat to the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), its membership, and especially former NBA star Shaquille O' Neal for teaming up to produce the Public Service Announcement (PSA) “Right to Carry – Duty to Secure” about the importance of securing firearms from “unauthorized access”.
Moreover, as the creators of the RF FACTOR, Ray Guidetti and I would like to acknowledge the IACP Firearms Committee's role in developing this PSA with the potential to save lives, especially those of innocent children.
Ray is a current member of the Committee, and I am a former member. Although we did not work on this particular PSA project, we are proud of the current and former members who did. Why? It’s been a long time coming. We’re elated that it’s finally arrived.
In the opening paragraph, I used the term “unauthorized access”. I chose the term carefully to make a point I’ll expand upon down below.
On its face, the PSA is a message about gun owners having a right to carry firearms and also a duty to secure them from theft. Police agencies have been warning that firearms theft has been a growing problem, exacerbated by guns left unattended and unsecured in vehicles.
Here are some facts, figures, and graphics about stolen guns published in a newly released federal study by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), entitled The National Firearms Commerce and Trafficking Assessment (NFCTA): Protecting America from Trafficked Firearms - Volume Four [1]
From 2019 to 2023, law enforcement agencies (LEAs) reported 841,843 private theft incidents involving 1,013,964 firearms
Most private theft incidents occurred in the South (61%; 515,043); followed by the Midwest (18%; 151,103).
The regional patterns of private thefts remained largely unchanged over the study period.
The number of reported private firearm theft incidents did not change significantly during the study period from 2019 to 2023.
Most of these private theft incidents involved a single firearm.
Pistols accounted for 75% (762,863) of firearms reported stolen from private citizens between 2019 and 2023
9mm was the most prevalent caliber reported (46%; 469,190)
Of the 1,013,964 firearms reported stolen between 2019 and 2023, LEAs recovered 307,470 firearms.
Stolen guns threaten everyone. They are a bit like the thousands of pieces of unexploded ordinance we read about in the news still buried and scattered throughout previously war-torn countries. Every so often, somebody picks one up, and boom – another victim hurt or killed.
Good job IACP and its members on getting the message out on stolen guns with your PSA video “Right to Carry – Duty to Secure”. All of our readers today can share in the message by watching it here:
Notwithstanding, when I watch the PSA video, I see an underlying message just as important perhaps even more so I would argue.
That’s why I carefully chose the words “unauthorized access” in today’s opening. I submit that the “duty to secure” against unauthorized access to firearms extends to the home and those within it, not just to thieves and B&E men from the outside.
I’m talking about securing firearms from unauthorized access from residents and visitors who YOU do not believe should have them. Mainly, I’m talking about young children and neighborhood kids, but I’m sure anyone reading this can think of others.
According to a study entitled: Unintentional Firearm Injury Deaths Among Children and Adolescents Aged 0–17 Years — National Violent Death Reporting System, United States, 2003–2021[2], the researchers analyzed data from 1,120 unintentional firearm injury deaths, from the CDC’s National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) for 49 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
Here are some of the study findings:
Most of the unintentional firearm injury deaths among children occurred in homes.
Firearms used most often belonged to the parent of the shooter.
Approximately one-half of fatal injuries were inflicted by others.
Injuries to children aged 0–5 years were disproportionately self-inflicted.
Firearms used to inflict fatal unintentional injuries were frequently stored both loaded and unlocked.
Unsecured firearms were most commonly accessed from a nightstand or other sleeping areas.
Across all age groups, approximately two-thirds of shooters were playing with or showing the firearm to another person when it discharged.
10.6% of all children mistook the firearm for a toy (including approximately one-quarter of those aged 0–5 years).
Approximately three-quarters of victims in this study were shot by another child, most commonly a friend, acquaintance, or sibling.
Other children were present during or witnessed the fatal event in approximately one-third of all incidents.
Studies based on data are important. This one on firearm-related deaths helped us at the RF FACTOR see the value in the ancillary message within the IACP’s PSA. A message with the potential to save the lives of innocent children by reminding firearm owners of their “duty to secure”.
While studies are helpful, the data they contain is soulless. So, I turned to Google looking for some range of reality. I queried an exact string of words in the advanced search function, "Child injured after shooting with an unsecured gun". Google, returned over 1 million hits in .45 seconds!
Here are several of the video stories I pulled from Google giving us a sense of the issue from where the rubber meets the road:
#1: Tragic accident in Inglis: 5-year-old dead, adult woman ...
#2: 3-year-old boy shoots himself after finding unsecured gun ...
#3: Westland parents charged after 5-year-old shoots and kills ....
#4: Rock Hill man charged after child dies in shooting
I recognize that some states pass laws requiring firearms to remain secure. I fully respect the right of policymakers and legislators to engage with their voters in the democratic process to determine what they believe works or doesn’t work for them.
I also know that my mom didn’t raise a fool. Having worked around the gun issue for most of my life, I am keenly familiar with all the concerns that arise when inserting the word firearm or any of its synonyms into a draft bill. I’ve seen the best of intentions fail, and the worst prevail. Many bills never got to the floor—trash cans don’t count.
Do we need a law requiring us to put doors and locks on our homes to prevent people from just walking in from the street? Since most houses have exterior doors and locks, it seems to be the commonsensical norm.
Common sense tells us that Dad shouldn’t leave his open backpack containing his loaded Glock 17 on the floor next to the couch while he runs outside to put the trash cans out to the curb - leaving his toddler to toddle around the living room.
People will continue to argue for and against a particular law, but it's okay - the legislative process is a fundamental element of democracy.
At RF FACTOR, we express our gratitude and support for the practical approach taken by the IACP, its members, and the Firearm Committee.
The IACP’s PSA serves as an important reminder that, alongside our right to bear arms, it is also important to prevent unauthorized access to our firearms to protect children and property and to help deny criminals access to firearms.
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[2] Wilson RF, Mintz S, Blair JM, Betz CJ, Collier A, Fowler KA. Unintentional Firearm Injury Deaths Among Children and Adolescents Aged 0–17 Years — National Violent Death Reporting System, United States, 2003–2021. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2023;72:1338–1345. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7250a1