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Children are killing children. In Michigan, a 6-year-old boy shoots and kills a classmate. In Littleton, Colo., two troubled teens devastate a community in a senseless rampage of murder. In Lisbon, Ohio, a sixth-grader pulls out a semiautomatic handgun in class. Hawaii must get smart
about gun controlLess sensational but equally tragic are suicides, which claim the lives of three young people, ages 10-19, every day in the United States. Overall, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the firearms death rate among American children 14 and younger is 12 times higher than the combined rate in 25 other industrialized nations.
In the aftermath of a tragedy, policy makers search for answers. Reasonable solutions involve intervention programs that focus on conflict resolution, values teaching, and early identification of troubled kids.
Unfortunately, well-intentioned programs cannot possibly reach every child who has access to a firearm. In Hawaii, there are about 300,000 to 400,000 registered firearms.
There is another solution: the "smart" or personalized handgun. The technology exists today so that handguns can be fired only by authorized users.
Personalized guns could reduce the possibility of gun-related deaths, now the second leading cause of injury deaths. Such guns would be especially effective in preventing youth suicide and accidental shootings by children.
Some argue that it is better to "gun-proof" children than have guns that are "child-proof." While education and training are important, it is estimated that a third of all handgun owners leave their guns loaded and unlocked.
Besides, handguns should not be exempt from health and safety laws that apply to every other consumer product in America. We childproof medicine containers, regulate toys for safety hazards and require warning labels on plastic bags.
The general public and gun owners alike support increased gun regulatory measures. A survey by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Gun Policy and Research and the National Opinion Research Center revealed that 88 percent of the general public and 81 percent of gun owners support legislation requiring all new handguns to be childproof.
Since the federal government has not taken the initiative on this issue, we must do so on a local level. Therefore, I have introduced a bill to establish a State Handgun Standard Commission to develop a safety performance standard for the manufacture, sale, trade, transfer and acquisition of handguns.
This approach is no different from what the federal government did to promote safer automobiles. The U.S. Congress created the Highway Traffic Safety Administration to set safety standards for cars since the manufacturers refused to do so.
Today, mandated design changes such as shatterproof windshields, collapsible steering wheels, padded dashboards and air bags have saved lives and prevented serious injuries. It is more effective to make a product safer in the first place than to rely on trying to change the behavior of people.
Whenever there is any attempt to control guns, it is inevitable to hear the cliche that "guns don't kill people, people kill people."
With personalized handguns, at least some people, especially children, won't be killing people. This is reason enough to take this modest first step.
Roy Takumi represents the 36th District,
Pearl City and Waipahu, the House of Representatives.