The presence of unlocked guns in any home increases the risk of accidental gun injuries as well as intentional shootings.  
As summer approaches, our children will be home more often. This is a good time to make certain your firearm(s) are locked and unloaded, with ammunition stored separately. 
In New Mexico on average, we lose three children every month to gun violence and many more are injured. Close to half of these firearm deaths are suicide (49 percent).  One of the strongest predictors of adolescent suicide is a gun in the home. Locking up guns is a simple lifesaving choice all responsible gun owner parents can make. 
There are other steps we can also take to keep our children safe from gun violence. When children go on a playdate, it is important to ask two lifesaving questions: 1) “Is there a gun in your home?” and 2) If “yes,” “Is that gun locked up?” 
When I first started asking about guns in homes my children visited, it was uncomfortable. I felt like I was intruding on the family’s privacy as gun owners. Yet, if close to 50 percent of homeowners in New Mexico have firearms, there is a good chance our children are playing in homes with loaded guns. After asking this question a few times, it became much easier, just like questions we might ask about things like allergies, screentime and video games.  
In fact, asking about gun storage can have the effect of simply reminding people to think about where and how their guns are stored. New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence was conducting a gun buyback several years ago when a grandmother brought in a rifle that she thought was unloaded. She was shocked to discover that she had been a trigger squeeze away from disaster in the home for years as her grandchildren regularly visited and stayed with her. 
The beginning of summer is also a good opportunity for parents to speak to our children about what to do if they are at a friend’s house and they find a gun.  Remind them not to touch it and to find a trusted adult. Some gun owners disagree with the idea of locking up their firearms. Their reasoning is that they teach their children to respect guns and to be safe with them. But we often ask ourselves the follow-up questions: What happens in this home when their child has a friend over who is curious about the gun? Or when a teenager wants to show off his parent’s loaded semi-automatic handgun in the bedside drawer? Or what about a 4-year-old who has a 4-year-old mind?
This most recent legislative session, New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence worked with a broad coalition of legislators, law enforcement and our governor to pass a Child Access Prevention law. The law makes it a crime if a gun owner’s gun ends up in the hands of a minor and that minor hurts themself or someone else with the firearm. 
This summer, let’s do everything we can to keep our children safe from gun violence. If you want free gunlocks, simply email New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence at info@newmexicanstopreventgunviolence.org and we will mail them to you. If you have a firearm that you no longer want, we can dismantle it at no charge to you.

Miranda Viscoli is co-president of New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence, a New Mexico 501(c)3 accredited non-profit corporation.