Accidental shootings involving children on the rise: CDC

Gun safety advocates say most accidental shootings involving children have two things in common -- the firearm is loaded and it is not in a secure place.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study that showed the number of unintentional gun deaths reached a 20-year high in 2021, the last year for available statistics.

The CDC also concluded that most of the victims were shot at a house or apartment.

In most cases, the guns were found on a nightstand or on top of a bed -- similar to the three-year-old girl who shot here herself with a gun she found on a sofa while her family was reportedly watching football.

Surveillance video from inside the home shows the toddler running and playing around before she can be seen picking up the gun from the couch. She then accidentally shoots herself, and family members can be seen panicking and screaming.

A 10-year-old boy died in September after apparently accidentally shooting himself in North Miami, police said.

In November, a 4-year-old girl died days after she was accidentally shot by one of her brothers with an unsecured gun at a home in northwest Miami-Dade.

An 8-year-old girl in West Palm Beach, who was shot in a vehicle Tuesday, became the latest child victimized by an accidental shooting in South Florida.

Colleen Creighton of the firearm safety group "Brady" said bedrooms, closets and cars are where kids get their hands on guns.

"Individuals are keeping their gun in their car but not actually keeping their car locked," Creighton said.

"What kind of trauma [does] she [have]?" asked Creighton. "What kind of trauma does her sibling have from finding the gun and having it go off?"

"Imagine how that child’s life has been forever changed by that," Florida state Rep. Christine Hunschofsky, D-Parkland, said.

She is sponsoring a bill that would mandate gun owners with children living in their homes lock their firearms when they're not carrying them.

"It is all about making sure that gun owners are storing their firearms in order to prevent unnecessary shootings," Hunschofsky said.

Her proposal never made it to the Florida House floor last year, but this time she hopes it will get a better hearing.

In the absence of a law, these are the steps the Brady group asks gun owners with children to take to reduce the chances of an accidental shooting.

The CDC noted that these deaths are preventable -- and is urging gun owners to store firearms locked, unloaded and away from ammunition.