First Selectman Rudy Marconi, Amanda Cordano of March for Change Ridgefield, and Tom Campbell, co-founder and president of the Greater Danbury Chapter of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
Ridgefield’s selectmen joined advocates, parents and concerned community members in support of The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, declaring Sunday, June 21, as ASK Day in Ridgefield.
The ASK (Asking Saves Kids) Campaign encourages parents and guardians to talk to one another about the presence of unlocked guns in the home. The risks of children having access to these guns are tragically documented by an average of 10 shootings per week with two to three fatalities.
The selectmen endorsed ASK Day at their June 10 meeting, after a presentation from Tom Campbell, president of the Greater Danbury Chapter of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
“The ASK idea is a grass roots approach to have families really think about where their kids are spending time,” Campbell told the selectmen.
Parents often ask questions of other parents before sending their children to another home.
“Is there a pool? You supervise it don’t you?”
Parents may be asked about foods that contain peanuts.
The ASK campaign is suggesting parents also, routinely, ask about firearms.
“The obvious question is: Are there weapons in the home and are they locked up?” Campbell said.
Kids having access to guns is a national problem in the U.S., Campbell said.
“Ten kids get shot every day,” he said.
On average, “two and half die,” he said.
Campbell’s interest in the issue grows from a gun death in his own family.
“We lost our dad when a neighborhood kid picked up his father’s service revolver and ran into my father,” he told the selectmen.
And it’s not only fatalities that are heart-wrenching.
“Gunshot wounds are tragic and severe and tend to complicate a person’s life forever,” Campbell said.
Selectman Andy Bodner wanted to be sure the question parents were being urged to ask was appropriately worded.
“It’s not a question: ‘Do yo have guns in the home?’ ” he said. “It’s ‘Do you have improperly stored guns?’ ”
Campbell agreed that was appropriate wording.
A release from the ASK campaign put it this way:
“Parents ask all sorts of questions to protect their children when they play at the home of a friend, neighbor or relative. But there is one important question that more than half of parents say never even occurred to them: ‘Is there an unsecured gun where my child plays?’ ”
The ASK statement continues: “ASK Day takes place on the first day of every summer, a time of year when children play more often in other homes, to remind parents nationwide about the importance of asking if there are unlocked guns where their kids play.
“The ASK Campaign promotes a simple idea with the potential to keep kids safe and prevent youth gun deaths and injuries. Nearly 1.7 million children in America live in a home with a loaded, unlocked gun and every year hundreds of kids are killed and injured as a result. ASK encourages parents to ask one simple question: ‘Is there an unlocked gun where my child plays?’ ”
More information on the ASK Campaign can be found at: askingsaveskids.org.
The post ASK Day: Are there unlocked guns in the house? appeared first on The Ridgefield Press.