Child Access Prevention

Child access prevention (CAP) laws impose criminal liability on adults who negligently leave firearms accessible to children.  Researchers have found that millions of children live in homes with easily accessible guns.  One study found that 34 percent of all American children (more than 22 million children) live in homes with firearms, and 43 percent of those homes have at least one unlocked gun.  Mark A. Schuster et al., Firearm Storage Patterns in U.S. Homes with Children, American Journal of Public Health (April 2000).  That study also found that 2.6 million children live in homes with firearms stored unlocked and loaded, or unlocked and unloaded with ammunition nearby. 

In October of 2000, the U.S. Secret Service published a study of 37 school shootings in 26 states.  That study found that in more than 65 percent of the cases, the attacker got the gun from his or her own home or that of a relative.  Department of the Treasury, United States Secret Service, An Interim Report on the Prevention of Targeted Violence in Schools (October 2000).

There are no federal CAP laws.

More than a dozen states currently have CAP laws.  Those laws vary in several respects.  Some laws, such as that in Connecticut, apply only when a person is killed as a result of the unsafe storage practice.  In Hawaii, in contrast, liability is triggered when a child gains access to a firearm.  In California, a negligent owner is liable when a child uses a gun to kill, injure or threaten a third person, or carries the weapon in a public place. 

CAP laws also vary regarding the age of the children covered.  Most laws apply to children under the age of 16.  The most narrow law, adopted in Virginia, applies to children under the age of 14 (and in some cases only under the age of 12).  The broadest CAP laws (such as those in North Carolina and Delaware) apply to children under the age of 18.  

The overwhelming majority of laws apply only when a gun is loaded, even if ammunition is stored nearby.  A few states, such as Hawaii, also impose liability when a gun is unloaded. 

Finally, most CAP laws do not require gun owners to store their firearms in any particular manner.  Instead, they impose liability when a child gains access to an improperly stored firearm, and are typically inapplicable if the gun is kept in a locked container or otherwise rendered inoperable.  In contrast, Massachusetts has a general locking device law (that does not specifically mention children or child safety) making it unlawful for a person to keep any firearm unless it is secured in a locked container or equipped with a tamper-resistant safety device, properly engaged so as to render the weapon inoperable. 

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