Families in Eugene and Springfield are reeling. We are relieved the child who was shot last month is awake and alert, and we hold his family in our hearts as he faces a long road to recovery. A son, a brother, a cousin, a middle schooler, a child.

Young people may have made choices in a heated moment that will define the rest of their lives. They are also somebody’s child. Friends, classmates, teachers, neighbors, first responders and the broader community share shock, grief, hope and resolve. In a city our size, there is almost no one untouched.

There will be important conversations about why this happened. Meanwhile, we can acknowledge today: Young people make impulsive decisions, full stop. What changes an outcome is what they can access in those moments. Here, there was a gun. Without it, a child walks away. With it, a child’s life changed forever.

Adults: Securing a firearm is your responsibility, without exception. Quick access in an emergency is the most common objection to safe storage, but that argument is invalid. Biometric safes and trigger locks, with the same technology used by law enforcement families, open in mere seconds with a fingerprint or code.

If the concern is someone else in the home, Oregon’s Extreme Risk Protection Order law gives household members and law enforcement a legal path to temporarily remove firearms from someone in crisis.

Responsible gun ownership and gun violence prevention are powerful allies. Unsecured firearms put everyone at risk, especially during moments of anger, despair or impulse. The harm is not abstract. It is here, affecting our neighbors, our veterans, our children.

We cannot predict every choice a person makes. We can choose what is within reach. Secure the gun. Every time.

Leah Carter
Eugene