In response, John Johnson, Executive Director of Iowans for the Prevention of Gun Violence, issued the following statement:

There are few events as tragic as the sudden loss of a relative or friend from an accidental shooting. The emotional intensity increases even more when the victim is a child. The unintentional killing of 9-year-old Joshua Heine-Maker illustrates that unfortunate fact very clearly. It’s nearly impossible not to look back in retrospect and see all the things that should have been done differently. The actions of the shooter, the victim and especially the parents, are often scrutinized as we search for who did what wrong. However, the responsible way for a community to handle such tragedies, is to step away from placing blame on the individual, and look forward by taking a hard look at public policy and how we as a community can take an active role in preventing such accidents in the future.

Numerous studies have shown that families with a gun in the home are at a greater risk of gun violence. Homicides in the home are three times more likely when there is a gun in the household, and the risk of suicide by a family member, especially when teenagers are present, is increased by nearly five times in homes with guns. The presence of a gun in the home also increases the likelihood of unintentional shootings.

Each year, 1500 children under the age of 14 are treated in hospital emergency rooms for unintentional firearm related injuries and the unintentional firearm death rate for children 14 and under in the United States is 9 times higher than in 25 other industrialized nations combined. For these reasons, IPGV believes that not keeping guns in the house is the safest approach for families with children living in the home.

However, we recognize that many Iowans enjoy hunting for sport, and in many cases, they must make the decision to either risk keeping a gun in the home, or give up hunting altogether. Even those who are uncomfortable with the presence of a gun in their house, or who have family members who are, can only take so many precautions before a young teenager can find a way around the obstacles.

One solution to this problem would be to store guns away from the home. However, at the present time, practical options for doing this are limited. Often, storing a gun with a grandparent or other relative is not a plausible or safe alternative either. Distance can make it difficult to retrieve the gun during hunting season, and children regularly spend time at those residences as well.

Because this is a dilemma that so many Iowa families are faced with, IPGV sees the need for alternative gun storage solutions that give hunters and other gun owners the option to store their guns safely away from their homes. Possibilities for off-site storage facilities might include specially designated safes at gun dealerships, shooting ranges, or law enforcement agencies.

These organizations could provide gun storage as an optional service similar to the way in which banks provide safe-deposit boxes to their customers. Gun owners would be able to easily remove their gun(s) from storage when it would be in use, and deposit it back at the storage facility during the off-season or at low-use times so that it could be kept safely away from children and out of the house.

About half of Iowa homes contain one or more firearms. An estimated three-fourths of these guns are hunting rifles and shotguns. The majority of these guns are used for hunting purposes only. A typical hunter may only use a gun for a couple of weeks to a couple of months a year. The remainder of the year the guns remain in storage in the home and place the families living with them at increased risk. By exploring the possibility of providing safe, away-from-home gun storage, gun dealerships, shooting ranges or law enforcement agencies would be offering an important service to the community.

IPGV believes that a significant number of firearm related injuries, deaths, and suicides, could be prevented by implementing such policies here in Iowa. At the very least, it would give Iowa gun owners peace of mind. We encourage the above mentioned organizations to coordinate with us in exploring these away-from-home storage options.