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A Mother's Plea: The Urgent Need for Productive Conversations About Gun Violence
Guest column: By Julvonnia McDowell

When I bought my 14-year-old son a crisp, navy suit with a yellow bowtie for his upcoming spring formal, I never imagined that I'd have to bury him in it just days later.

My radiant, joyful boy went over to a family member's house, where he and his cousin found an unsecured gun in a drawer, hidden beneath a t-shirt. They started playing with it, not realizing it was loaded. Minutes later, JaJuan was gone.

The phone call we received that afternoon was every parent's worst nightmare. And it was entirely preventable.

My husband and I had always been protective of JaJuan. We'd taught him as a child to look both ways before crossing the street and not to accept rides from strangers. And we'd always ask other parents the usual questions -- about screen time, video games, and curfews -- before letting JaJuan go to a friend's house. 

But we never asked: Is there a gun in the house? If so, is it stored securely? It never occurred to us that the thing that posed the greatest risk to JaJuan's life would be a firearm. But gun injuries are the leading cause of death for children and teens in the United States. 

One of the things I've realized since my son passed away is that addressing gun violence and its impact -- especially on children -- doesn't have to be a partisan issue. With our children and teens at the center of this crisis, it can't be. A recent study from Johns Hopkins showed that gun injuries claimed over 2,500 children's lives in 2022 -- more than car crashes, overdoses, or cancers. 

Whether you're a lifelong gun owner or someone who has never touched one, we all want our children to be safe, including reducing suicides and unintentional shootings -- which in 2022 accounted for nearly 60% of all gun deaths.

To save lives, we need a cultural shift. That starts with conversations that help people understand how asking simple questions, practicing secure storage and understanding the signs of a mental health crisis can prevent irreversible loss.

For starters, ask other parents, friends, and relatives if they keep firearms and how they're stored. It might feel awkward at first. But just like you'd ask about peanuts if your child has an allergy, asking about guns could save a life. 

Similarly, parents -- even the ones who don't own guns -- need to talk to their kids about firearm safety. Make sure kids understand that guns aren't toys. 

We also need to normalize open conversations around mental health. This is especially important when it comes to putting necessary time and space between a teen in a moment of crisis and a firearm.

And 8 in 10 Americans agree that productive conversations can help reduce gun injury and death among children and teens.

Start those lifesaving conversations today. For those who are unsure where to start, information and resources are available to help initiate the conversation. We can all agree that we can all play a role in creating a safer America where gun violence is no longer the leading cause of death for children and teens.

Julvonnia McDowell is the mother of a son who died from an unintentional shooting and is an advocate for secure gun storage. This piece originally ran in USA Today.