COLUMBUS – Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein cites a new study conducted by Nationwide Children’s Hospital to support criticism of state officials and pro-gun rights lobbyists who he says are preventing the city from enforcing its gun safety laws.
The study, conducted by the Center for Injury Research and Policy and released Monday, found that 92% of accidental shootings involving a minor happened when a gun was stored unlocked and loaded, either in the child’s own home or that of a friend.
Two teenagers have been injured in accidental shooting incidents in Columbus over the last few days and the city enacted legislation in December requiring gun owners to lock firearms and store them safely but Klein says litigation brought by the state and NRA-backed groups is preventing police and prosecutors from filing charges in several cases.
“We need to make it easier for police and prosecutors to do their job, protect our children, and hold irresponsible gun owners accountable when their negligence threatens our kids’ lives. That begins with the State joining our efforts on safe storage or getting out of the way to let us do what they’ve failed to do for decades: keep our kids and communities safe,” Klein said.
The city filed a lawsuit against the state 2019 challenging a law pre-empting local municipalities from enforcing their own gun control legislation and won a preliminary judgment on the case in November, Klein said.
The city enacted several gun safety ordinances in December, including legislation requiring gun owners to lock and safely store their firearms in the home so that they are inaccessible to minors.
The legal challenges are standing in the way of city police and prosecutors filing charges in several cases where Klein says the new safe storage statute could be applied.