NCJ Number
129809
Journal
Florida Law Review Volume: 42 Issue: 3 Dated: (July 1990) Pages: 495-530
Date Published
1991
Length
36 pages
Annotation
A firearm storage law passed by the Florida legislature in 1989 is intended to prevent accidental shootings of children but is inconsistent, unfocused, and of questionable deterrent value.
Abstract
The law authorizes felony penalties for persons storing or leaving a loaded gun within the reach or easy access of a minor who uses the gun to injure or kill someone. It also authorizes misdemeanor penalties for negligent storage of firearms in a residence if the negligence results in a minor's improper or threatening exhibition of the firearm. The law was proposed, considered, and passed in a day and a half under intense media and political pressure by a legislature historically opposed to gun control. These pressures resulted from the extensive media coverage of several fatal and nonfatal accidental shootings of children. The resulting law should withstand constitutional challenges. However, it is likely to be largely ignored at best, and, at worst, it will intensify the pain and familial separation that generally result from accidental shootings of children by children. It is unlikely to reduce the frequency of such accidents significantly.