Gun safety advocates united with public health officials and law enforcement to raise awareness about gun violence in Connecticut. They gathered at the state capitol in Hartford Wednesday, calling on residents to take action in support of community safety.
They announced the upcoming 4th annual #KeepKidsSafe Connecticut Gun Buyback and Gun Giveaway Day, set for Saturday.
The event aims to reduce gun violence and ensure a safer environment for children, says Dr. David Shapiro, chief medical officer and trauma surgeon at Saint Francis Hospital in Hartford.
“As a trauma surgeon, as someone who is an advocate at a hospital and as someone who has worked strongly against gun related injuries in the last 16 years of my career, the most important message here today is to keep our kids and family safe,” Shapiro said. “Keep them safe by storing firearms properly and turning them in if you don’t want them.”
Shapiro said the event is not an anti-gun event but a safety event that helps promote safe storage and safe handling.
He added that this assures that firearms that are in your basement or in a closet have another alternative.
”If you do not want them, if you are not using them in your home or if you do not have any other reason to use them, then you can turn them in for cash,” Shapiro said.
Last year, 79 gun safes were given away to people at the Hartford Gun Giveaway.
Many attendees arrived not to turn in firearms, but to learn how to secure them safely. They came to find the right firearm safe for their needs, driven by a genuine concern for safety, according to Dr. Kevin Borrup, executive director of injury prevention at Connecticut Children’s.
“If you are a responsible gun owner, then of course that’s what you are concerned about because you do not want anyone who isn’t supposed to get a hold on your firearm,” Borrup said.
Kristin Song, president of the Ethan Miller Song Foundation, was also at the state capitol. Song shared a recurrent dream she has about the death of her son Ethan Song. He was 15 when he died following a gun accident in 2018.
Song expressed her determination to prevent other children from being harmed by gun violence.
“This is my reality every day and every night, and to think all this pain and suffering could have been prevented in seconds,” Song said. That’s all it would have taken for the gun owner to secure his weapon. That’s why we are here today—to prevent more Ethans and to save families, communities and generations from a lifetime of pain.”
Song and The Ethan Miller Song Foundation called on state lawmakers for over a year to enact a law that would help promote gun safety. Finally, in 2019, state lawmakers and Gov. Ned Lamont signed off on Ethan’s Law, which requires gun owners to store their weapons in secure storage or safety devices.
For locations and information regarding the 4th annual #KeepKidsSafe Connecticut Gun Buyback and Gun Safe Giveaway day, visit NewtownActionAllianceFoundation.org.
