In a city grappling with gun violence, the Kennedy Krieger Institute has launched a campaign that could save lives by keeping firearms out of children's hands. As part of this initiative, free gun locks are being distributed to anyone in the community, including patients, families, and staff, at various locations around Baltimore. This effort is in response to grim statistics that reveal gun violence as the top killer of children in the U.S., according to WMAR2 News.
The locks, funded by a grant from the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention and Policy, are available at the institute's Broadway, Greenspring, and Fairmount campuses without recipients providing their names, thus ensuring anonymity. The locks are being packaged discreetly in a move meant to eliminate barriers preventing people from securing these lifesaving devices. The distribution of these locks continues as long as the supplies last, "We know that talking about guns and firearms can be a stigmatized or politicized conversation, and we just want to talk to folks about safety," Sarah Carter, a social worker at Kennedy Krieger Institute, stated, as per WMAR2 News.
Research from Duke University in 2024 has added weight to the argument for safe storage, showing that states with safe storage laws have lower rates of pediatric gun suicides. Kennedy Krieger's professionals, such as associate chief medical officer Michelle Melicosta, MD, MPH, MSc, have emphasized the simplicity yet potentially life-saving nature of these steps, "We must keep guns out of the hands of children. That means if we have a gun in our homes, we must practice safe storage at all times," Dr. Melicosta explained in a Baltimore Fishbowl report.
This initiative is important now because firearm sales in the U.S. increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving about 30 million kids in homes with guns. The campaign is a team effort at Kennedy Krieger, involving various departments like Child Life, Social Work, and nursing. As they see more gun-related injuries among patients, clinicians are determined to find ways to lower the risk of gun violence for children.
