John, this is jarring, but there are solutions we can all be a part of—

Just about every day in the U.S., a child unintentionally shoots someone or themselves. In 2024, it happened at least 360 times.

We've tracked these incidents because every story of an unintentional shooting is a reason to show up for gun safety—specifically secure firearm storage. Whether we're educating our communities about it or fighting to pass secure storage laws, it's work that saves lives.

A 4-year-old girl who unintentionally shot and wounded herself in Kansas. A 13-year-old boy charged with manslaughter in Texas for unintentionally shooting his little brother while playing with a gun in his home. The #NotAnAccident Index is a window into all the lives touched or taken by unintentional shootings by children.

It's not an accident that guns are so easy for kids to access: Gun lobby-allied lawmakers and the gun industry's hunger for profits push a "guns everywhere" agenda, with little emphasis on securing them away from kids.

It's why we're pushing at the federal level for policies that strengthen secure storage, like the Saving Our Veterans Lives Act to offer free gun safes to veterans.

And crucially, there are the state-level campaigns we fight every year. These state laws save lives—rates of unintentional shootings by children were 35% lower in states with laws that require gun owners to store guns securely, compared to states that don't.

Beyond the legal changes, we need a cultural shift, and we're moving the needle: Every day, volunteers across the country are promoting Be SMART in their communities by urging families to securely store firearms—locked, unloaded, and where kids can't reach them.

If half of these households with unlocked guns started locking them, one-third of youth gun suicides and unintentional deaths could be prevented, saving an estimated 251 lives in a single year.

Securing all firearms, modeling responsible firearm behavior, asking about the presence of firearms in homes, and joining the fight for stronger secure storage laws—these are all the pieces of the puzzle to curb unintentional shootings and help end gun violence.

Thanks for being with us and doing your part to save lives,

Everytown for Gun Safety