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No matter how you feel about guns or gun ownership, I think that you will probably agree that when children have access to loaded guns, bad things can happen.

In fact, 80% of unintentional firearm deaths of children younger than 15 happen in a home 鈥� and 1.7 million children and teenagers live in a home with a loaded, unlocked gun. Here are :

• 1 in 3 homes with children have guns, many unlocked or loaded
• 3 out of 4 children ages 5 to 14 know where firearms are kept in the home
• 17,500 youths are injured or killed each year due to gun violence
• Guns are the second leading cause of death among children and teens.

That鈥檚 why every June 21st, the Brady Center and the American Academy of Pediatrics encourages parents to ask a very simple question:

Is there an unlocked gun where my child plays?

It鈥檚 such a simple question. Parents who own a gun should ask it of themselves 鈥� and before sending a child to another person鈥檚 house, they should ask it of the people living there.

There are two things that can be done to keep children safe from gun injury if there is a gun in the house:

1. Lock up the gun
2. Lock up the ammunition, separately.

Every parent who owns a gun should do this. If the people where a child is going to play don鈥檛, parents should ask if they will. If they can鈥檛 or won鈥檛, then the child shouldn鈥檛 go there, plain and simple.

This is about health and safety. You wouldn鈥檛 send your child in a car without seatbelts, you wouldn鈥檛 let them ride a roller coaster without being strapped in, you wouldn鈥檛 let them play with sharp knives or dangerous chemicals, you wouldn鈥檛 send them to a zoo where lions or tigers or other possibly aggressive animals were allowed to roam free. It鈥檚 about taking basic precautions. Think about it that way if you feel awkward asking.

The (AAP) suggests that if you are feeling awkward, you could ask in a different way, such as, 鈥淢y child is very curious. Do you have guns or anything dangerous he might get into?鈥� The AAP also points out that while it鈥檚 understandable that people would feel that for safety reasons they should have their gun loaded and at the ready should there be an intruder, the reality is that a loaded, accessible gun is more likely to be used on a family member than an intruder 鈥� and could be discharged by a curious child.

Talking about guns can be difficult. It鈥檚 a politically and emotionally charged topic. But when it comes to children and safety, it鈥檚 one we need to talk about. Let鈥檚 start by asking the question: is there an unlocked gun where my child plays?