National Ask Day

Floor Speech

Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, this week I will introduce a resolution to designate June 21 as National ASK Day, to raise awareness among parents to ask a simple lifesaving question: ``Is there an unlocked gun where my child plays?'' Those nine words could ultimately save your child's life.

I recently met Karen Reed from Cumberland, Rhode Island, whose youngest son was severely injured in 2011 when his older brother played with a loaded pellet gun at a friend's house on Christmas Eve. Karen had no idea there was an unlocked gun at the house where her son was playing. Her 9-year-old son mistakenly thought the pellet gun was a video game accessory and shot his younger brother in the eye.

1.7 million children live in a home with a loaded, unlocked gun, and every year thousands of kids are killed or injured as a result. Unfortunately, Karen's story is just one example of a tragic accident that can occur when a child gets hold of a loaded gun.

This isn't a partisan issue or an attempt to take guns away from anybody. This is about keeping our kids safe by asking a simple, lifesaving question. We owe it to our kids to provide them with safe areas to play and to pass the National ASK resolution and encourage parents to ask this simple question: ``Is there a gun where my child plays?''

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