In light of the deadly Oxford school shooting, West Michigan law enforcement and national safety experts are encouraging parents to make sure they're storing their firearms at home properly.
Investigation into the situation is ongoing, and prosecutors say the suspected shooter got ahold of the gun at home.
"It hits home for everybody, no matter where you are," Project ChildSafe Chairman Joseph Bartozzi says. "Putting a gun on a shelf or in a shoebox is certainly not acceptable."
He says it's safest to store an unloaded gun with a cable lock and in a safe. The program has distributed millions of free firearm safety kits nationwide in the last 20 years, and Bartozzi says that need has increased since the start of the pandemic.
"We know in the last 18 months, there's been 11,000,000 first-time gun owners," he says. "That's a lot. Those folks need to get trained and need to have the resources and understanding to what it means to own a firearm."
"I think most firearm owners understand with the rights come the responsibilities," Kent County Sheriff Office's Sgt. Eric Brunner says.
He says responsibly stowing away a gun includes keeping ammunition in a separate place.
"We would want to have as many steps possible removed from if a kid or someone was to find that firearm, so that ammunition isn't sitting right there next to it," Sgt. Brunner says.
He says parents need to openly talk to their young kids about what it is, but talking about how to responsibly use it is a conversation for older kids when they're ready.
"You want to take away the mystery where kids wanna look when mom and dad aren't around because they're just curious," Sgt. Brunner says.
As for teenagers, he says it's important to pay attention to their attitude.
"(Ask yourself if) this unusual behavior for them? Did they have a hard day yesterday, and now we're going out shooting today?" Sgt. Brunner says. "Just weighing these things and knowing your child and what their baseline is."
The Kent County Sheriff's office says they get several calls a year for guns not being handled appropriately at home, either by a child or someone who's supposed to have the gun. Sometimes, people do get injured in these cases.
"We go when there's an accident, when there's a negligent discharge that someone messed up, then now they or someone else got hurt. Those are horrible days and those people don't forget that. That's very difficult," Sgt. Brunner says.
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