Firearms are an important investment for people, but not many people consider properly storing them. Keeping your guns without proper shelf or safe can be very dangerous especially to children. Also, gun are highly valuable things in the home that’s why they can be easy target for thieves. Considering these points, many states in the USA have made their own regarding safe storage of firearms. Some of these states are:
i) Washington: The law states that a gun owner can be criminally responsible if their gun gets into the wrong hands and a crime is committed with it if the gun isn’t stored properly. The law says the owner could face a misdemeanor or even a felony charge of ‘community endangerment due to unsafe storage’. Therefore, you should properly store them to avoid very serious charges.
ii) California: According to California law, a person commits criminal storage of a firearm in the third degree by keeping or leaving a loaded firearm in a place where the defendant knows (or should have known) that a child under the age of 18 is likely to gain access to the gun without permission of the child’s parent or guardian, and the defendant does not take reasonable steps to secure the firearm.
iii) New York: New York law requires locking a gun in a safe storage depository that is incapable of being unlocked without a key or combination lock, if the owner lives with someone who is prohibited from possessing a firearm because the individual:
- Has been convicted of a felony
- Has been committed to a mental institution
- Is subject to a protective order
- Has been convicted of a serious misdemeanor crime of domestic violence or completed his or her sentence for a serious misdemeanor crime of domestic violence within the prior 5 years.
iv) Hawaii: Hawaii law does not require a locking device to accompany the sale of a firearm. Hawaii also does not require firearm owners to lock their weapons in case there are no minors (under the age of 16) in the home. The law prohibits persons from storing firearms on property they control when they know or reasonably should know that a minor is likely to gain access to the firearm without the permission of the parent or guardian of the minor.
v) Florida: Any person who stores or leaves a loaded firearm on premises under his or her control and knows or reasonably should know that a minor is likely to gain access to the firearm without the lawful permission of the minor’s parent or without supervision required by law, must keep the firearm in a securely locked box or container.
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