Will Safe Storage Reduce Gun Violence?

Two weeks ago, the Biden Administration announced a bunch of Executive Actions which will allegedly make a difference to the astonishing amount of gun violence which we continue to absorb, this action no doubt spurred by the multiple shootings which happened in Kansas City during the Super Bowl parade.

These new initiatives are all grouped around the idea of safe storage of guns, which happens to be a detailed strategy explained in a Department of Justice publication which you can download and read right here.

I happen to live in the state — Massachusetts — which has the strongest law on safe gun storage of all fifty states. The Massachusetts law requires that all guns be locked up or locked away at all times, and also carries the possibility of a felony charge if any gun is not safely stored, even if the gun can’t be touched by anyone who doesn’t have legal access to guns.

I should add, incidentally, that the Massachusetts safe storage law was passed in 1999 and took effect the following year. In 2001, the year after the safe-storage law was passed, Massachusetts had a gun-homicide rate of 1.26, second lowest only after Nebraska with a rate of 1.22. The gun-suicide rate was 1.63, the lowest of all 50 states.

What was the Massachusetts gun-homicide rate in 2021, which was 20 years after this tough…