GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. —
A Newaygo County grandfather was sentenced in October after a 6-year-old found a gun in a bedroom of the grandfather's home. The 6-year-old relative fired the gun, killing the man’s 5-year-old grandson.
A father in Grand Rapids is facing charges after officials said his 2-year-old son shot himself in the hand with the father’s gun.
And this week, the Kent County Prosecutor filed charges against a Grand Rapids man after authorities said a 15-year-old shot himself using the man’s gun.
In each of these cases officials said the gun owners failed to follow Michigan’s safe storage law.
Passed in February of this year, the secure storage law, Public Act 17 of 2023, requires individuals to store their weapons unloaded and locked if it is “reasonably known that a minor is likely to be present on the premises.”
The charges are what the Kent County Prosecutor said is a “graduate.”
If a minor gets control of a firearm in a public place or possesses it in the presence of another person, it’s a misdemeanor punishable by 93 days imprisonment and/or a fine of up to $500.
If a minor discharges the weapon and injures themself or another person, it’s a felony punishable by five years imprisonment and/or $7,500.
If a minor discharges the weapon and inflicts serious “impairment of a body function” on themselves or another person, it’s a felony punishable by 10 years imprisonment and/or $7,500 fine.
And if a minor discharges the weapon and causes death to them or another person, it’s a felony punishable by 15 years imprisonment and/or $10,500 fine.
Before the safe storage law, Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker said there wasn't a uniform charge for minors in possession of a weapon.
“This kind of makes it easier and just lays it out a little bit clearer for us,” he said. “Probably lays it out clear for the public as well as what the duties are if it comes to trial, but what a jury may look at as well.”
He said the law isn’t to punish responsible gun owners or infringe on Second Amendment rights.
“If that minor is on the supervision of an adult, and you're trying to teach your child, or you're taking the child out hunting, or they're going to, you know, target practice, or going to the local shooting range, there are exceptions for that,” he said. “It's not saying, you know kids you know, are absolutely prohibited, never can happen. It's just saying they have to be under circumstances where they are responsible, and are you at least trying to teach them to be responsible and not left to their own devices, thinking that this is a toy, and seeing what they do in video games, and not respecting what a gun can do if it's not used properly.”
He believes this is for the gun owners that are irresponsible with how they store their weapon.
“It's the irresponsible gun owners that you know, people that you know we've seen just head shaking things where guns are left on coffee tables or in bedside tables with kids around, and you just don't understand what's going through that thought process for some of these individuals,” he said. “Once again, trying to get out there saying, ‘Hey, you've got to be smarter. You can't, you know, be as stupid as some people are.”
Ryan Bates, the Executive Director of End Gun Violence Michigan, said it’s easy to secure your firearms.
“Safe storage is really important for protecting your family. Guns are the number one cause of death for children in our country, and every one of those deaths is completely preventable,” Bates said. “You can get free gun locks from your local police department or your local Health and Human Services Office. This is a really simple way that we can make sure that not one more child is killed or injured because of an unsecured firearm.”
For children, he said it’s hard for them to recognize what’s a toy and what is not.
“What we know is that children can't tell the difference between a toy and a real gun, their brains just don't understand the difference,” he said. “And we know that kids are naturally curious, and so when they see something exciting, like a firearm, they're going to explore it. So even if you think your kids would never touch a gun, don't take the risk, because we know they're naturally attracted to things that look like they could be toys, and they can't tell the difference.”
For him and End Gun Violence Michigan, this law is a good first step. They’re currently supporting a proposal that would make it so schools in the state would have to educate parents on the law every year in schools.
“The consequences for failure to store your weapon properly are pretty severe,” he said. “Obviously, the worst consequence that any parent would ever face is having something awful happen to your child. No one wants to see that, so we urge folks to six store their firearms safely to avoid that.”
According to the CDC, 67% of unintentional firearm injury deaths among children and adolescents occurred when the shooter was playing or showing the firearm off.