Injuries from Firearm Accidents Involving Minors

Children and Teens Face Higher Risks Around Guns

No parent ever expects a normal day to end in tragedy. Yet across New York, children and teenagers are injured every year in firearm accidents, often in the places they should feel safest. A friend’s house. A relative’s room. A hunting trip meant to teach responsibility.

At Horn Wright, LLP, our personal injury attorneys have seen the heartbreak these accidents cause. One small lapse, a gun left loaded, a cabinet left unlocked, can alter the course of a child’s life forever. What makes these tragedies harder to bear is how easily they could have been prevented.

Kids and teens are naturally curious. They’re drawn to what they don’t fully understand. When a gun is within reach, curiosity turns dangerous. That’s why New York law places responsibility squarely on adults to keep firearms out of young hands.

How Access to Firearms Leads to Preventable Tragedies

When a child or teen is injured in a firearm accident, there’s almost always a pattern. It starts with easy access, a weapon stored carelessly, a gun assumed to be unloaded, or adults failing to supervise. Then comes curiosity or impulsiveness. And in an instant, what could have been prevented becomes irreversible.

Common scenarios include:

• Loaded guns in unlocked drawers or cabinets, often mistaken for toys.
• Teens handling firearms without proper training or supervision.
• Children finding guns left unattended after hunting or cleaning.
• Peer influence, where showing off a weapon turns into tragedy.

Each of these moments shares the same truth: a responsible adult could have stopped it. Safety locks, secured storage, and clear rules save lives. The failure to use them doesn’t just lead to heartbreak, it creates legal accountability.

Even when an accident happens in another home, parents often struggle with guilt. But under the law, it’s the adult who failed to secure the weapon who bears responsibility, not the child who didn’t know better.

Parental and Adult Responsibility in Minor-Related Gun Accidents

In New York, adults who own or control firearms have a legal duty to prevent minors from accessing them. When they fail in that duty, the consequences extend far beyond moral blame, they face real civil and sometimes criminal liability.

Legally, an adult may be responsible if:

• They allowed a minor access to a firearm that caused injury.
• They stored a gun loaded or unlocked where a child could find it.
• They permitted underage shooting without proper supervision.
• They failed to comply with New York’s Child Access Prevention laws.

New York treats these cases seriously because the risks are well-documented. According to data from the CDC, most accidental shootings involving minors occur in homes where the gun was both loaded and unlocked. Courts interpret that as negligence, not misfortune.

When an adult’s carelessness leads to a child’s injury or death, families have every right to seek justice. It’s not vengeance. It’s prevention.

New York’s Laws on Firearm Access by Minors

New York’s firearm laws are among the strictest in the country, especially regarding minors. Under New York Penal Law §265.45, it’s illegal to store a loaded firearm in a way that allows a child under 18 to access it without supervision.

The law goes further, even if the weapon isn’t loaded, if ammunition is nearby and easily accessible, the adult can still be held liable. The goal is clear: prevent harm before it happens.

Parents, guardians, or property owners who fail to secure firearms properly may face:

• Civil liability, when injuries occur due to negligent storage.
• Criminal charges, in extreme cases involving death or reckless endangerment.
• Insurance claims, when victims seek compensation for medical and emotional damages.

In addition to state laws, federal statutes such as the Gun Control Act (18 U.S.C. §922) prohibit selling or transferring firearms to minors, reinforcing that gun safety around children isn’t optional, it’s mandated.

New York’s strong legal framework reflects a hard truth: every “accidental” shooting involving a child could have been prevented through responsibility and secure storage.

New Hampshire Offers Weaker Gun Access Regulations for Minors Than New York

Across the border, New Hampshire takes a looser stance on gun access laws for minors. The state has no specific Child Access Prevention statute, meaning adults face fewer consequences when children gain access to firearms.

Unlike New York, New Hampshire doesn’t require guns to be stored locked or unloaded, even in homes with children. Civil lawsuits can still be filed after an injury, but without clear statutory guidance, victims often have a harder time proving negligence.

In New York, by contrast, the law defines negligence clearly. Failing to lock up a gun is a direct violation, one that can establish liability automatically. That difference often determines whether families get justice or are left with unanswered questions.

For families dealing with tragedy, where the law draws that line matters more than anything.

Compensation and Counseling Options for Families

When a minor is injured or killed due to unsafe firearm access, the loss extends beyond physical harm. Families face enormous emotional trauma, guilt, anger, grief, and confusion. Legal recovery can’t erase that, but it can help families rebuild.

Compensation may include:

• Medical expenses for emergency care, surgeries, and long-term rehabilitation.
• Therapy and counseling for both the child and family members.
• Pain and suffering, recognizing the emotional toll of the incident.
• Loss of future earnings, in cases involving serious or fatal injuries.
• Punitive damages, when adult negligence is extreme or willful.

Beyond financial recovery, families often need mental health support. Trauma-focused therapy, family counseling, and community outreach programs help children and parents cope with the emotional scars left behind.

The path to recovery is long, but accountability is where it begins.

Why Prevention and Accountability Go Hand in Hand

Every time a gun accident involving a minor makes the news, the same questions surface, “How did this happen?” and “Why wasn’t the gun locked up?” The answers rarely surprise anyone. Someone assumed safety. Someone thought, “They’d never touch it.”

Prevention isn’t complicated. It’s locks, education, and supervision. But accountability ensures those steps are taken seriously. When courts hold negligent adults liable, it sends a clear message: owning a gun means accepting the full weight of that responsibility.

Real prevention doesn’t start after tragedy. It starts with the simple act of keeping danger out of reach.

Horn Wright, LLP, Protects Children Harmed by Negligent Gun Access

At Horn Wright, LLP, our personal injury attorneys have represented children and families devastated by preventable gun accidents. We’ve seen the long-term consequences, both physical and emotional, that ripple through entire families.

Our role is simple but critical: to make sure adults who failed in their duty are held accountable and that families receive the justice and compensation they deserve. We work with investigators, safety experts, and counselors to build cases that reveal the full truth, because every preventable tragedy deserves a voice.

We fight for safer homes, safer communities, and safer futures. Because when adults act responsibly, children stay safe — and that’s what the law, and decency, demand.