Letter to the Star 2/4/2021, page AS15

An argument between Raymond Childs and his father was followed by Raymond killing five members of the family and wounding his younger brother. Knowing of this, the mayor stated that the city would pursue whomever may have supplied the firearms illegally to Raymond, who is 17 and not entitled to own a firearm. From newspaper reports, it appears the firearms belonged to his father, who was killed by his son.

Homicide within families is not rare. The FBI reported that, in 2019, 13% of all homicide victims were killed by family members. Two factors make this family tragedy uncommon. The first is the number of victims, and the second, that the perpetrator was only 17. Had the weapons been safely stored by the father, these killings would have been much less likely to occur. Raymond would have had to go and obtain a weapon somewhere and then return. By then, his anger could have cooled.

Preventing these kinds of tragedies is a goal of Senate Bill 285, introduced by state Sen. Fady Qaddoura of Indianapolis, requiring safe storage of firearms in a household with anyone under 18, as are Raymond and his brother. Laws like SB 285 exist in many states and have been shown to meaningfully decrease child and adolescent firearm suicides and accidental deaths. Killings of family members by adolescents are rare, but school shootings have been studied, and vast majority of those committed by youths were committed with guns obtained from a family member, relative or friend.

Mandated safe storage with felony penalties if someone is illegally hurt or killed with the firearm would make this kind of access to weapons harder for adolescents and other children. This would lessen the likelihood of school shootings by minors. Sen. Qaddoura’s bill deserves a hearing.

Stephen Dunlop, M.D.
Board member of Hoosiers Concerned about Gun Violence