1. United States
2. Ore.
3. Letter

I know that Connecticut lawmakers plan to reintroduce federal legislation aimed at parents who leave firearms unsecured in their homes. The bill is called Ethan’s Law. Ethan’s Law would dictate that adults in homes with children, or anyone else ineligible to own a firearm, would be required to keep their weapons secured. Violators would face fines starting at $500, or in cases resulting in an injured child, they could be imprisoned for up to five years. The law is named for Ethan Song of Guilford, who at age 15 accidentally shot himself with an unsecured gun in a friend’s home in 2018. Song’s parents successfully pushed this legislation through the Connecticut General Assembly in 2019 with bipartisan support. They now have a gun violence rate 400% lower than the states in this country with the loosest gun laws. This legislation is relevant not only to gun-related accidents; it could also reduce the number of school shootings and teen suicides. A 2019 study from the U.S. Secret Service that found that 76% of all school shootings were carried out with unsecured firearms from the perpetrator’s home. This bill is a no-brainer. Please make it a top priority and help get it passed. Thanks.