ATLANTA – The General Assembly should take a carrot-and-stick approach to reducing gun violence in Georgia, a panel of pediatricians told members of a legislative study committee Thursday.
Tax credits to incentivize Georgians to buy safe firearm storage devices and a law requiring safe storage of guns with penalties for violators were among the recommendations members of Georgia Clinicians for Gun Safety delivered to the state Senate Safe Firearm Storage Study Committee during a hearing at the Georgia Capitol.
Firearms are the leading cause of death for young people in Georgia, said Dr. Sofia Chaudhary, a pediatric emergency medicine physician and chair of the GA American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Chapter Injury And Violence Prevention Committee.
“This is a public health crisis,” Chaudhary said. “Georgia’s children deserve to grow up in an environment free from gun violence.”
While mass school shootings such as occurred at Apalachee High School near Winder this month draw the lion’s share of media coverage, teen suicides and unintentional shootings also are on the rise.
Dr. Keisha Doh, a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Children’s Health Care of Atlanta, said toddlers and teenagers are the most frequent victims of accidental shootings involving young people.
“Unintentional firearm injuries are preventable,” Doh said.
Tax credits to encourage Georgians to buy safe firearm storage devices such as gun safes and trigger locks were among recommendations state House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, made last week in the aftermath of the school shooting in Barrow County.
Another Republican, State School Superintendent Richard Woods, this week called for state funding to provide a school resource officer and a crisis alert system in every Georgia school.
But for the most part, Georgia Republicans have been reluctant to back measures requiring adults to storage firearms in safe locations where children can’t get to them or a “red flag” law allowing the temporary seizure of firearms from a person deemed a danger to themselves or others.
But several witnesses who testified Thursday said gun violence also could be addressed through steps other than legislation.
Jessie Ojeda, state policy attorney for Giffords, a nonprofit founded by former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords of Arizona after she was shot in an assassination attempt in 2011, said the states of Tennessee, Texas, and Utah have launched public education campaigns using radio, TV, social media, brochures, and flyers to raise awareness of the need to keep firearms stored safely.
“Safe storage is not just a recommendation,” Ojeda said. “It is a necessity to protect our families and communities from preventable tragedies.”
Sen. Emanuel Jones, D-Decatur, the study committee’s chairman, said the panel will hold a final meeting next month before formulating recommendations to the full Senate. Jones said his goal is to develop specific legislation for the General Assembly to consider during the 2025 session starting in January.