[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 10330]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            NATIONAL ASK DAY

  (Mr. CICILLINE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, this week I will introduce a resolution 
to designate June 21 as National ASK Day, to raise awareness among 
parents to ask a simple lifesaving question: ``Is there an unlocked gun 
where my child plays?'' Those nine words could ultimately save your 
child's life.
  I recently met Karen Reed from Cumberland, Rhode Island, whose 
youngest son was severely injured in 2011 when his older brother played 
with a loaded pellet gun at a friend's house on Christmas Eve. Karen 
had no idea there was an unlocked gun at the house where her son was 
playing. Her 9-year-old son mistakenly thought the pellet gun was a 
video game accessory and shot his younger brother in the eye.
  1.7 million children live in a home with a loaded, unlocked gun, and 
every year thousands of kids are killed or injured as a result. 
Unfortunately, Karen's story is just one example of a tragic accident 
that can occur when a child gets hold of a loaded gun.
  This isn't a partisan issue or an attempt to take guns away from 
anybody. This is about keeping our kids safe by asking a simple, 
lifesaving question. We owe it to our kids to provide them with safe 
areas to play and to pass the National ASK resolution and encourage 
parents to ask this simple question: ``Is there a gun where my child 
plays?''

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