Firearm safety activists speak out after 6-year-old fatally shot by unsecured gun in Detroit
A 6-year-old girl died on Monday after she was fatally shot by an unsecured gun in Detroit, police say.
The shooting is the second in two days involving a child and an unsecured gun. Another 6-year-old girl was hospitalized after she accidentally shot herself on Sunday. As of Sunday afternoon, the girl was in stable condition.
Firearm safety activists say the shootings could have been prevented by following Michigan's safe storage law.
Police say the child's mother drove to a store to get some food at a nearby restaurant. As she went to the building, she had left five children in the vehicle unattended. Police say one of the children ran after the woman to get her attention.
Police and local gun safety activists are again urging gun owners to follow the state law.
"This is preventable, preventable," said Assistant Police Chief Charles Fitzgerald. "We have safe storage for a reason. Secure your weapons."
Jonathan Gold, senior ambassador for Gifford's Gun Owners for Safety, says the law has been a positive change in Michigan.
"We've heard about another tragedy, and that's why you're interviewing me today, but what we don't hear is about all the people who we save because they don't make the news. They're still alive," Gold told CBS News Detroit.
According to data from the organization, Everytown, Michigan averaged 16 unintentional shootings by children per year since 2015. Shootings reached a record high of 25 in 2024, but fell 60% to 10 in 2025, the first full year the state's safe storage law was in effect.
Skye Thietten with End Gun Violence Michigan says that the Safe Storage Act is simple.
"That means that you have to secure your guns in your home or vehicle when there are children around, or they could reasonably be around," Thietten said.
According to state law, a person who fails to properly store their gun could face a felony punishable by up to 10 years if a minor fires a gun and inflicts pain on themselves or others.
Gold says there's no excuse for gun owners not to secure their firearms.
"It's $50 to save a life, and that's if you have to buy something. Gun locks are available at every police station for free," he said.
No charges have been filed in the case as of Monday, as investigators will present it to Wayne County prosecutors.
