Rita Price The Columbus Dispatch Jan 4, 2020 at 6:27 PM Backers of child-access prevention laws say the measures could help keep guns out of the hands of minors. But safe-storage proposals have never progressed in the Ohio legislature, even in the wake of unintended shootings of children. Not long after the founding of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence, organizers began advocating for a safe-storage law to help keep firearms out of children’s reach. “It was one of the top things we were working on, because we thought it was such a no-brainer that everyone could agree,” founder Toby Hoover said of the organization’s early efforts — more than 20 years ago — to mandate secure storage or gun locks so that kids can’t accidentally shoot their friends, siblings or themselves. But the push for a safe-storage law failed then and has failed to advance in almost every Ohio legislative session since. Even former Republican Gov. Bob Taft was unsuccessful after taking the rare step of testifying before the General Assembly, while in office in 2000, in support of safe-storage laws. The gun-rights lobby targets each proposal, “and then it gets picked and picked and picked apart,” Hoover said. Muskingum County resident Christy Conklin started championing child-access prevention laws in 2014, after her 11-year-old nephew, Lucas Templin, was shot to death while playing at the home of his 11-year-old best friend. Though she and her family handed out hundreds of gun locks, the pace slowed as “backlash” built, […]