The Pennsylvania chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of the Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots networks, released the following statement in response to reports of a 2-year-old boy unintentionally shooting and killing his 4-year-old sister with an unsecured firearm inside a parked car in Chester, Pennsylvania. Police say the children’s parent was outside the vehicle at the time of the shooting.
“This life-altering tragedy was completely preventable and again underscores the urgent need to act in the interest of our children’s safety across Pennsylvania,” said Amy Sarno, a volunteer with the Pennsylvania chapter of Moms Demand Action. “The legislative majority in Harrisburg continues to neglect the seriousness of our state’s gun violence crisis, choosing instead to focus on measures that would open the floodgates for more gun violence. We will continue to fight to ensure that our state’s leaders pass legislation to address this crisis.”
Since 2015, 95 children under 18 years old in Pennsylvania have unintentionally shot and killed or wounded themselves or someone else. Pennsylvania currently does not have any laws in place that require the secure storage of firearms away from the access of children and teens. Similar laws in other states have helped reduce rates of unintentional shootings among young people.
In an average year in Pennsylvania, 1,628 people die by guns and 3,058 people are wounded. Gun violence costs Pennsylvania $12.1 billion each year, of which $567.4 million is paid by taxpayers. More information on gun violence in Pennsylvania is available here. More information about unintentional shootings by children is available here and here.