Source: https://lawcenter.giffords.org/gun-laws/state-law/50-state-summaries/child-access-prevention-state-by-state/
Timestamp: 2019-01-20 13:30:05
Document Index: 782447913

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 131', '§ 131', '§ 752', '§ 752', '§ 750', '§ 11', '§ 11', '§ 11', '§ 11', '§ 23']

Child Access Prevention: State by State | Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
Child Access Prevention: State by State
Child Access Prevention in Massachusetts
Massachusetts law prohibits the storage or keeping of any firearm in any place unless the gun is secured in a locked container or equipped with a tamper-resistant mechanical lock or other safety device and properly engaged so as to render such weapon inoperable by any person other than the owner or other lawfully authorized user.1 Massachusetts law also penalizes a lawful owner or user who keeps or stores non-large capacity rifles or shotguns in a place where a person under age 18 who does not possess a valid firearm identification card may gain access to the firearm.2 Furthermore, a lawful owner or user may not keep or store a rifle or shotgun that is a large capacity weapon, a handgun, or a machine gun in a place where any person under age 18 may gain access to the firearm.3
For additional laws related to safely securing and storing firearms, please see the Locking Devices section.
Ch. 140, § 131L(c). ⤴︎
Ch. 140, § 131L(d). ⤴︎
Child Access Prevention in Michigan
Michigan penalizes any person who, because of carelessness, recklessness or negligence, but not willful or wanton conduct, causes or allows any firearm under his or her immediate control to be discharged and kill or injure another person.1
Mich. Comp. Laws Serv. § 752.861. Michigan also prohibits any person who, because of carelessness, recklessness or negligence, but not willful or wanton conduct, causes or allows any firearm under his or her immediate control to be discharged and destroy or injure another person’s real or personal property. Mich. Comp. Laws Serv. § 752.862. ⤴︎
Mich. Comp. Laws Serv. § 750.235a. ⤴︎
Child Access Prevention in Oregon
Oregon has no statutes requiring firearm owners to prevent children from gaining access to firearms.
State administrative regulations govern the storage of firearms in certain locations, however.
Child Access Prevention in Rhode Island
Rhode Island law provides that:
A person who stores or leaves on premises under his or her control a loaded firearm and who knows or reasonably should know that a child is likely to gain access to the firearm without the permission of the child’s parent or guardian, and the child obtains access to the firearm and causes injury to himself or herself or any other person with the firearm, is guilty of the crime of criminal storage of a firearm….1
“Child” is defined as a person under age 16.2
Access to the firearm is gained through illegal entry of any premises or an illegal taking of the firearm from the premises without the owner’s permission;
The firearm is kept in a locked container or other location which a reasonable person would believe to be secure;
The firearm is carried on the person or in such close proximity that the individual can readily retrieve and use it;
The child acts in self-defense or defense of another person; or
The person keeping the firearm on his or her premises has no reasonable expectation that a child is likely to be on the premises.3
If a child allegedly violating Rhode Island’s safe storage provisions is a parent or guardian of a child who is injured or dies due to an unintentional shooting, the Attorney General’s office, in deciding whether to prosecute the violation, must consider the impact of the injury or death on the alleged violator.4 A parent or guardian of a child who is injured or dies from an unintentional shooting will be prosecuted only in those instances in which the parent or guardian behaved in a grossly negligent manner.5
State regulations may also impose safe storage requirements under certain circumstances.
For related laws, see the Rhode Island Locking Devices section.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-47-60.1(b). ⤴︎
R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-47-60.1(c). ⤴︎
R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-47-60.1(d)(1). ⤴︎
R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-47-60.1(d)(2). ⤴︎
South Dakota prohibits any person from selling, transferring, giving, loaning, furnishing, or delivering a firearm or firearm ammunition to any person under age 18 if that person knows or reasonably believes the minor intended, at the time of transfer, to use the firearm or ammunition in a crime of violence.1 South Dakota has no other law penalizing those who provide children access to firearms.
S.D. Codified Laws § 23-7-46. The person transferring the firearm is criminally liable for a felony. Id. ⤴︎
Washington has no laws regulating child access prevention.