Part of the tragedy of 7-year-old Jermon Perry’s death, believed to be at the hand of his 5-year-old brother who got hold of their father’s loaded gun while looking for candy, is that Missouri lawmakers might have been able to prevent it. Laws are on the books in 11 states regarding children’s access to guns and punishments for not storing firearms safely. But those laws don’t exist in Missouri.
Jermon’s father, Jericho Perry, 39, had a concealed carry permit, a family relative told Post-Dispatch reporter Denise Hollinshed. He will no doubt forever regret leaving his loaded gun in a holster in a dresser drawer. A family already suffering from their mother’s battle with cancer, after a double mastectomy in 2014, now must live with the grief of a young son’s death the day before Easter.
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The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence says that 1.7 million minors in the United States live in houses with loaded, unlocked firearms and that guns are present in approximately one out of three households with kids. The center also says that 73 percent of children under age 10 know where their parents keep firearms.
Guns are the third-leading cause of death for children between ages 1 and 17, according to a study last year in the medical journal Pediatrics. The U.S. General Accounting Office estimates that a child-proof safety lock and a safety device showing whether a gun is loaded could have prevented 31 percent of accidental firearms deaths.
Gun ownership studies estimate that up to 600,000 guns are stolen annually, further putting public health and safety at risk. They are a major source of weapons on the black market, making it easy for criminals to gain access to firearms.
Gun-rights supporters assert that the safe-storage argument is a tool for disarming the American public and that the National Rifle Association’s efforts to promote gun safety have driven fatal gun accident rates for kids and adults to an all-time low.
The NRA encourages responsible gun ownership and provides tips on its website for safe firearms storage. That’s useful, but Missouri legislators could go the extra mile and legally require that guns in houses with children, or adults who should not have access to firearms, be stored safely and with trigger locks. Laws do help raise awareness and change reckless behaviors.
The law also should apply to firearms in vehicles. Stories abound of thieves breaking into cars and finding unsecured guns, which then provides them with firepower to commit bigger crimes.
Jermon’s brother probably didn’t know the difference between a toy gun and a real one, the relative said. Legislators need to protect the public and help prevent disasters by passing a common-sense law that is about safety, not about gun control.
Jermon Perry, shown in this photo provided by family, was shot in the head at his duplex apartment Saturday in the 3100 block of California Avenue, reportedly by his 5-year-old brother.
