COMMENTARY ON FIREARMS : No Child Is Safe Till Gun-Owning Parents Safeguard Weapons : A measure gaining bipartisan support would require adults to keep rifles and shotguns out of children’s reach.

Last June, 12-year-old Gema Marie of Santa Ana became another statistic in the 1990 tally of children killed in accidental shootings. Her 14-year-old brother, playing with a sawed-off .22-caliber rifle he did not believe to be loaded, aimed at his sister and fatally shot her in the head.

Last summer in Anaheim, a 5-year-old boy accidentally shot and wounded his older brother and a playmate in a freak accident that occurred while the boys were left without any adult supervision.

Also last year, a 13-year-old Buena Park boy was critically wounded after he was accidentally shot in the head by a 12-year-old friend. The 12-year-old had found the .22-caliber handgun on a shelf in his parents’ master bedroom, not knowing that the weapon was loaded.

These Orange County incidents of children wounded or killed as a result of carelessness with firearms underscore the need to place all weapons out of children’s reach when they are stored in the home. Such deaths and injuries are tragic because they could easily be prevented by following simple rules of firearm safety.

Accidental shooting deaths and injuries of children due to negligent placement of firearms are not isolated events. Indeed, accidents involving guns and children occur with surprising frequency. The results are always disastrous and the statistics quite alarming.

The Center to Prevent Handgun Violence reports that every day 10 American children age 18 and under are killed in handgun accidents, homicides and suicides.

In the state of California, between 1977 and 1983, 88 children under 14 years of age were unintentionally shot and killed by other children or by themselves. Many of these cases occurred while children played with guns found inside their families’ homes.

In 1986-87, a study of 266 accidental shootings of children ages 16 and under revealed that 50% of these accidents occurred in the victim’s home, while another 38% occurred in the homes of friends or relatives. In 45% of the incidents, the firearm used was found in the bedroom.

While the overwhelming majority of gun owners practice the basic rules of gun safety and understand that common sense and responsibility go hand in hand with the right to own a firearm, those who leave a loaded firearm within a child’s reach are practicing reckless and dangerous behavior. Sadly, it is often their own children who pay the price for their thoughtlessness.

One positive step to help address this problem is legislation that mandates the safe storage of firearms, with special emphasis on gun safety and the protection of children.

One such piece of legislation that is gathering bipartisan support in Sacramento is the Children’s Firearm Accident Prevention Act of 1991. This bill would require adults to keep all handguns, rifles and shotguns out of children’s reach.

If enacted, it would make reckless gun owners criminally liable for death or injuries caused by children playing with loaded firearms. An adult could be prosecuted under this statute for the crime of “negligent storage of a firearm” if a child is hurt or killed. Finally, the bill mandates a public awareness campaign inside gun shops concerning children and firearm safety.

In short, this measure is intended to send a strong message to those few recalcitrant gun owners who refuse to take the necessary gun safety precautions to protect the children around them.

Other states, including Florida, Iowa and Connecticut, have already enacted laws making those persons who leave a loaded weapon within a child’s reach liable. Since its passage, Florida has experienced a large decrease in unintentional shooting deaths.

This measure is gaining broad support in Sacramento. Indeed, it has the unprecedented support of both the National Rifle Assn. and Handgun Control Inc., two organizations usually uncomfortable with each other.

As a former federal prosecutor and a member of the military, I’ve seen the devastation that can be visited upon a family by the unintended discharge of a weapon.

Additionally, this bill holds special significance for me, as the father of three young children and a responsible gun owner. I want my children, as well as every other child, to be as safe as possible from a negligently stored weapon.

It is naive to expect that this legislation will eliminate all accidental shootings of children. But it’s a significant first step toward solving a problem that, until recently, has not received serious examination. If the measure ends up saving just one life and one family’s grief, then it will be very worthwhile.