Earlier this month, seven young people in Milwaukee were involved in firearms incidents.
Statistically, it’s most likely those young people got their firearms from either their homes or their peers, said Reggie Moore, director of community safety policy and engagement for the Comprehensive Injury Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
“Unsecured firearms in the hands of children have had tragic results for children and families in Milwaukee and across the country,” Moore said.
While there is no shortage of initiatives and organizations working to prevent youth gun violence, Milwaukee – and Wisconsin as a whole – does not have a law that strongly regulates how firearms must be stored.
Laws that do that are among the most effective at reducing various harms to children, according to a 2026 analysis from the RAND Corp., an independent, nonprofit research organization.
However, some advocates argue that stronger requirements could make it harder to access a firearm in an emergency, and that there are other ways of preventing youth gun violence.
A weak gun storage law, researchers say
Child-access prevention laws regulate children’s access to firearms.
More than half of states now have a safe storage law, and several have passed them in recent years, said Andrew Morral, the Greenwald Family Chair in Gun Policy at RAND and lead researcher for the fifth edition of “The Science of Gun Policy.”
“The reason is because there’s good evidence for them,” Morral said.
Morral and other researchers reviewed scientific studies on gun laws and policies and found evidence that strong child-access prevention laws reduce multiple types of harm among youths, including suicide and self-harm, unintentional firearm injuries and deaths, and violent crime.
While Wisconsin has a child-access prevention law, Morral said it is a very weak one compared with some other states.
Wisconsin law states a person can be charged with a misdemeanor if they “recklessly store or leave a loaded firearm within the reach or easy access of a child.”
The law applies only if a child obtains a firearm and either causes bodily harm or death or carries or displays it in public.
Wisconsin’s child-access prevention law is weaker than the one in nearby Minnesota.
Minnesota law states it is a misdemeanor if someone “negligently stores or leaves a loaded firearm in a location where the person knows, or reasonably should know, that a child is likely to gain access, unless reasonable action is taken to secure the firearm.”
Minnesota’s child-access prevention law regulates not only what happens after a child accesses a firearm but also how a firearm is stored, regardless of how it is used.
Some states have even broader child-access prevention laws. In California, for example, the law requires gun owners to take steps to secure firearms when a child is likely to access them, and it applies to both loaded and unloaded firearms.
The role of parents
Nik Clark is co-founder and president of Wisconsin Carry, a volunteer organization that provides gun training and legal advocacy. He said Wisconsin’s child-access prevention law is adequate in its current form.
Clark argues that the most effective laws are those that punish harmful behavior.
“I like Wisconsin’s (child-access prevention) law, because if a child gets access to a firearm and harms himself, herself or someone else, that’s a crime,” Clark said.
Clark said stronger child-access prevention laws do not address the root causes of behaviors that lead to youth violence or suicide.
Morral said researchers do not fully understand why child-access protection laws work. Some evidence shows people in states with these laws may not even know they exist.
Clark said it is primarily the responsibility of parents to oversee firearm safety and firearm education in the home, as parents are the ones best suited and most motivated to do this.
“If you can teach a kid not to pull the knife out of the drawer and stab someone like they might see on a TV show or commercial … you can teach kids you don’t pick up a gun and point it at your sister or brother and pull the trigger,” Clark said. “The safest place for a gun, generally speaking, is on someone’s hip.”
Regulating firearm storage more strictly would make it harder to use a gun for self-defense, he said.
Morral said most people who buy guns today say they do so to protect themselves, their families and their homes.
A harm-reduction approach
Moore said Milwaukee must pursue “evidence-informed policies and practices that we know can save lives,” citing Michigan’s safe storage law and how unintentional shootings by children fell 60% the first full year it was in effect.
Dr. James Bigham, clinical professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, recognizes the importance of firearm ownership for Wisconsin residents.
He said efforts to reduce harm should not shame gun owners.
“The vast majority of Wisconsinites who own guns are being responsible, and the vast majority of folks who own firearms are not going to do something to harm somebody else or themselves with their firearms,” Bigham said.
Instead, he said, a harm-reduction approach is needed. That type of approach focuses on reducing risk rather than eliminating gun ownership.
“If you own a firearm, you’ve changed your potential risk of harm from firearms for yourself and your family,” Bigham said.
Off-site storage of firearms during a mental health crisis is one of the most effective ways to prevent suicide, Bigham said.
Storing a firearm locked and unloaded with the ammunition kept separately clearly reduces harm, Morral said.
State Sen. Jesse James, R-Thorp, vice chair of the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, said that gun storage is something that he has spoken with many of his constituents about. He advocated for multiple pieces of legislation to encourage Wisconsinites to store and use their guns safely.
James co-authored Senate Bill 12, which provides a tax credit when purchasing a gun safe.
He also authored a bill that would encourage training for firearms retailers to recognize a suicidal individual and provide suicide prevention materials.
“There are policy solutions to safeguard the rights of gun owners while protecting our community members, and I think these pieces of legislation are a step in the right direction for responsible use and storage,” James said in an email.
Moore said it falls on everyone to help prevent youth gun violence.
“As the leading cause of death of children in America, we all have a responsibility to protect children from injury and death from firearms,” he said.
Resources
Clark said that gun locks are not hard to come by.
“Every gun I’ve ever bought came with a gun lock,” he said.
Several organizations in Milwaukee offer resources related to firearm storage, including free gun locks.
For example, residents can get a free gun lock at the offices of United Neighborhood Centers of Milwaukee, 1609 W. North Ave., any weekday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The Wisconsin Gun Shop Project’s “Live Today – Put It Away” program partners with participating gun shops – including several in Milwaukee County – to provide firearm safety information and temporary off-site storage options, often for a low fee.
The program is designed to help people safely store firearms outside the home during times of heightened risk, including mental health crises.
“If we could shift our culture where it’s normal … to transfer access to firearms during a time of crisis, we could really reduce the rates of death by suicide and child-involved firearm injuries,” Bigham said.Wisconsin Carry provides free concealed carry training and other resources.
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