Access denied: Reducing pediatric firearm mortality with smart gun technology.

In 2020, firearm‐related injuries became the leading cause of death in American children. Ensuring the safe storage of household firearms is one way to reduce those deaths. Since the 1990s, states have sought to accomplish that goal through child access prevention (CAP) laws, which sanction gun owners for unsafe firearm storage. However, recent survey data suggests that these laws are not effective, as they suffer from low compliance. To compensate for these shortcomings, legislators should repeal CAP laws and devise legislation requiring gun owners residing with children to retrofit their household firearms with smart gun technology. Key points for the family law community: 4368 American children were killed by firearm‐related injuries in 2020.Only 19.9% of the firearms used in youth suicides and unintentional injuries were properly stored.4.6 million American children live in homes where at least one firearm is loaded and not locked away.The firearm industry is exempt from federal agency oversight and is largely shielded from tort liability.Child access prevention laws have had a negligible effect on firearm storage practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]