BALTIMORE — Gun violence throughout Baltimore City and Baltimore County has left multiple families grieving the loss of children due to negligence over the past week.
Children being killed by other children is a hot topic, especially with tragedies that have transpired recently.
In two separate instances last week, children died because of another minor getting access to firearms.
Now, law enforcement professional said this should be a teachable moment for everyone who owns a firearm, and has children.
Over the past week, there have been two young people’s lives cut short at the hands of another minor due to gun owners being careless with their weapons.
Last Wednesday, in Baltimore County a 8-year-old girl lost her life after she was shot by another minor who’s now facing charges for her death.
Then, on Saturday, this time in Baltimore City, 15-year-old Nykayla Strawder died after being shot in the head by a 9-year-old who was playing with a gun owned by a relative who’s an armed security guard.
Retired law enforcement Commander T.J. Smith said these tragedies need to be a wake-up call for parents.
“If you have a child under the age of 16, in your home, the law says you're supposed to lock that gun up, and it's supposed to be out of reach of the child," Smith said. "This is your own personal responsibility to avoid tragedies. Unfortunately, in the majority of these situations, we're talking about it after the fact. We're talking about how did the gun get into the hands of the person that used it against someone."
Smith said this should also be a teachable moment for any and everyone who owns a firearm.
“We have to look at the totality of this, not just a young person that might get it out of curiosity," Smith said. "We have to look at the fact that they are young people who might be going through some personal problems and get it for purposes of suicide. That's real. So having a lockbox, they have the fingerprint lockbox devices available is something that is critically important in this day and age."
All guns manufactured after 2002 that are sold in the state of Maryland automatically come with a lock when you purchase them. However, just like unlocked car doors the locks are no good if people don’t use them properly.
“If it's wide open, lockbox is no good, If the key is sitting right there on the table. So, these are things that you have to think about when you have that weapon available," Smith said.
Smith said he also believes if there were stiffer penalties for the gun owners who fail to properly store them, it could encourage them to change their habits.
“These tragedies are something you can't take back," Smith said. "And as we look for someone to blame, often is just to try to hang something on him. It's not going to be a murder charge. Regardless on that secondary person. I think people would rather see maybe a manslaughter charge. But the way Maryland law is written, it doesn't seem like it would even work in this scenario, because it's a minor misdemeanor right now for not securing the firearm out of reach of somebody under the age of 16."
Smith said this should also be a moment for parents to talk to their children about gun safety, along with keeping those firearms secure to hopefully prevent more instances like these from happening.
