In wake of child's shooting, gun locks pushed

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Columbus police, city and community leaders are emphasizing the importance of locking up guns to keep them away from children. 

The call comes after a 9-year-old boy was injured Wednesday in an accidental shooting; a 27-year-old man is now facing charges in connection with the incident. 

Columbus Division of Police data shows there have been 15 accidental shootings in Columbus this year, four of them fatal. Police and community leaders said all of them were preventable.

“This simple gun lock saves lives,” Thomas Cunningham with the Onyx Gun Club said.

Cunningham travels to schools and community groups across central Ohio to teach the importance of responsible gun ownership.

“We have a gun safety pledge and that's important because when we're in the schools, this is how we link the program to the parents,” Cunningham said.

He brings gun locks and lockboxes, teaches students how to use them, and then has participants sign a pledge.

“What happens is the kids take the Lethal Means safety program home to them by taking the pledge with them, and then they go over the safety plans with their parents, and we have parents call all the time and say, ‘I never really thought about locking up my firearms until kids bought this safety pledge home,’” Cunningham said.

Cunnigham said he’s had thousands of people sign gun safety pledges.

When he hears about incidents like Wednesday’s shooting on Lonsdale Road, it is discouraging. 

“The more gun locks we can give out, the more we can motivate gun owners, the more responsible gun owners we can make,” Cunningham said.

Court records said the 9-year-old was in the basement with his 27-year-old stepbrother; the man told police he was taking the gun upstairs when he tripped and it accidentally went off, hitting the boy. The stepbrother is charged with negligent assault.

“If you own a gun, absolutely do everything in your power to make sure that that gun is either locked up or secured in a way that not one single child can get to it because, unfortunately, this young man didn't wake up planning to be charged with a crime,” Columbus Police Sgt. James Fuqua said.

Fuqua said accidental shootings happen more often than they would like. 

“I just think a lot of people just think it won't happen to them,” Fuqua said. “These are cases and situations where my child won't do it, or I know where my gun i,s or I don't think anything will happen, and unfortunately, when it does happen to you, you're one of those people like, ‘I can't believe it happened to me.’”

City leaders said there are several places around the city to get a gun lock or safe for free.

“We hand these out through the Department of Public Health,” Columbus City Councilmember Emmanuel Remy said. “These are in the gun safes, but lock your guns, keep them stored away and out of the reach of kids.”

Columbus attempted to pass safe gun storage laws in the past, but that is currently on hold due to a lawsuit.

“We'll continue to look at what's sensible for the residents using our home rule here in the City of Columbus to do what's right for our residents,” Remy said. “We want to make sure that everyone feels safe, and certainly this is one piece of it.”

Cunningham said if you are looking for a gun lock, reach out to the Onyx Gun Club to receive one for free.