Mike Levin: “Yesterday was the second annual National Asking Saves Kids Day or ASK Day. ASK is a national public health campaign that…”

“Yesterday was the second annual National Asking Saves Kids Day or ASK Day. ASK is a national public health campaign that urges parents to ask their neighbors and community members if they have a gun in the home before sending their child over to play. The ASK campaign helps to enable parents to protect their children from the danger of a gun that is not safety stored. This is a sensible step toward preventing gun violence. According to PAX, a non-political organization that promotes solutions to the problem of gun violence and sponsors the ASK campaign, over 40 percent of American homes with children have guns. Many of these weapons are kept unlocked and loaded. Child access to these firearms is one reason why children in the U.S. are more likely to die of gun violence than from all natural causes combined. In recognition of National ASK Day, parents, children, community leaders, and neighbors across the nation planted flowers as a symbol of the more than 3,000 children that PAX estimates could be saved through the simple message of the ASK campaign. It is critical that we do all we can to keep children from gaining unsupervised access to firearms. That is why I cosponsored Senator Durban's Child Access Prevention Act.”