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Nearly three years ago, a 2-year-old Lakeland boy was killed after shooting himself in his family's driveway. In 2010, a 10-year-old boy was shot in the hand by his brother.
LAKELAND — Nearly three years ago, a 2-year-old Lakeland boy was killed after shooting himself in his family's driveway.
In 2010, a 10-year-old boy was shot in the hand by his brother.
Both cases have a common theme:
A firearm was left out in the open by an adult.
In Florida, 29 children ages 11 years old and younger have been killed or injured just this year because of a firearm, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a not-for-profit corporation that provides information about gun violence in the United States.
There have been no child fatalities nor injuries because of firearm accidents in Polk County this year.
The Gun Violence Archive reported in May that 202 children had been killed or injured nationally this year because of a firearm, and that number has already increased by about 158 percent: 521 through October.
Studies by Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America have shown the national consensus of publicly reported unintentional child gun deaths from December 2012 to December 2013 "undercounts the scale of the phenomenon" in the nation.
Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that 311 children age 14 and under were killed in unintentional shootings nationally between 2007 and 2011, the Everytown analysis shows the number was 61 percent higher.
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence estimates that 48 children are shot every day, with seven being fatalities.
The campaign says the reality is that children often have easy access to guns in the home.
"My 3-year-old is so curious, she would be messing with it in a heartbeat," Kaley Parker of Lakeland said about whether her daughter would mess with an unsecured firearm.
Parker said she does worry about that, adding that her daughter "play shoots" and knows what a gun is.
"But that's why we have a safe that is mounted into the wall in the bedroom," she said.
However, Parker said it concerns her how others handle their firearms in their own homes, which could affect her daughter.
Because 70 percent of accidental shootings involving children happen in the home, the campaign suggests mothers like Parker simply ask whether there is an unlocked gun in a household where the child will be.
The CDC used to ask Americans whether they store guns in their homes and lock them up, but there is no longer federal data on this topic because of laws passed by Congress.
According to the National Rifle Association, there is no one right way to store a firearm.
"We encourage gun owners to find a solution that works for them," said Jason Brown, media relations manager for the NRA.
Brown said the main thing to remember is that if someone other than the gun owner can get to it, it's not secure.
"When people think firearm storage they say 'Where am I going to put this thing' but that's not enough," he said.
"It needs to be 100 percent secure."
Brown said there is a "plethora of options" from vendors around the country that offer products that can keep a firearm safely stored away in either a car or a house.
Storage is a fundamental part of gun safety, Brown said, adding that it is just as important to learn about securing a gun as it is to operate one.
When it comes to children gaining access to guns, Brown said parents can't always be in control.
Even if the family keeps their firearms safely secured, another family might not.
"Education is the best medicine," he said. "It needs to be a dialogue with families and parents and children constantly."
Brown said reminding children not to touch a gun, run away from it and tell an adult is key to the child's safety.
"This conversation shouldn't happen once," he said. "We want it to become an almost instinct."
Children can participate in the free program offered by the NRA, Eddie Eagle GunSafe, to learn about gun accident prevention, Brown said.
About 29 million children around the country have taken or participated in the program that Brown encourages communities to take advantage of.
"It's important for us to offer this program," he said. "Safety is the No. 1 priority in any venture."
Jamie Gilt, a Jacksonville woman who quickly rose to fame in March after her 4-year-old son accidentally shot her while she was driving down State Road 60, visited a NRA group in Winter Haven in July to discuss her interest in becoming a gun-safety instructor.
A pro-gun activist, Gilt said she usually wore her gun in a holster on her hip, but that day decided to put it under her driver's seat.
Her son got his hands on it and shot through her driver's seat, the bullet lodging in her back.
Being careless could have resulted in a fatal accident, Gilt said, but she was lucky enough to pull through.
She now focuses on sharing her story with others so the same doesn't happen to them or their children.
"Something as simple as staying 10 steps ahead, no matter what," she said. "Always think of what could possibly happen."
Gilt said anyone with a gun should always keep it in sight or keep it locked up so a child isn't able to get to it.
"Kids are curious and they need to be trained from an early age," she said. "Train them not to handle it at all or to handle it in a way that they can't hurt themselves or someone else."
Two Polk County residents, Brett Upthagrove and Kira Perkins Morrison, have their own methods for securing their firearms.
Upthagrove used to keep his firearm behind the driver's seat of his pickup, but said after speaking with Police Chief Larry Giddens of the Lakeland Police Department about it, he removed it from his truck.
(He) reminded me in several private conversations how I might feel if it was stolen and a young kid was shot," he said.
Morrison said she keeps her firearm loaded and in her center console without a lock on it in her vehicle.
Morrison said she keeps it that way in case she needs to get to it quickly, adding that she never has children in her vehicle.
"Once I have my own kids, I will lock it up," she said. "I would never endanger a child."
— Tori Walker can be reached at tori.walker@theledger.com or 863-802-7590. Follow Tori on Twitter @Torilwalker863.
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