BATON ROUGE – A bill proposed by Sen. Regina Ashford Barrow that would have criminalized unsecured firearm storage with knowledge that a minor or prohibited person could gain access to the weapons failed Tuesday in the Senate Judiciary C Committee.

Sen. Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia, who is running for Congress, and five other Republicans, objected to the bill's advancement. Barrow was the only Democrat present and the only person who voted in favor.

Barrow, D-Baton Rouge, addressed the emotional consequences of unintentional gun deaths of children. "I personally have witnessed the tragedy and the hole that it leaves in families," she said.

Barrow said she had spoken at length about the bill with the Louisiana Shooting Association and also had discussed it with Miguez before the committee hearing.

Still, Daniel E. Zelenka II, an attorney who is president of the Louisiana Shooting Association, shook his head in opposition during Barrow's closing remarks and said the bill was unnecessary.

He referenced the other leading causes of death of minors in Louisiana that would take precedence over Barrow's gun legislation.

"To put it into perspective, there's almost a thousand deaths amongst this age group from drowning every year, but we're not criminalizing swimming pools," Zelenka said.

Everett Chase Baudean, vice president of the Louisiana Shooting Association, added that the bill was too broad and "gatekeeps effective self-defense."

Both Baudean and Zelenka said they personally keep the vast majority of their guns locked up.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Violent Death Reporting System found that from 2003 to 2021, there were 1,262 unintentional firearm deaths among U.S. children up to age 17, and 85% of the cases occurred in the home.

Barrow said in Louisiana, there were 121 deaths in one year, more than four times the national average.

This year alone, three children in Baton Rouge have sustained injuries from accidental gunfire, two of whom have died, as noted by Barrow in a committee meeting last week. Louisiana ranks second in gun-death rates, with people ages 15 to 34 making up 49% of all gun deaths in 2023.

Under Barrow's bill, a parent or guardian violating the law would have been subject to fines of up to $500 and six months of imprisonment, and, in the case of injury, would have faced fines of up to $1,000 and one year of prison.

Those who carry a firearm on their person and those whose firearms are obtained when minors or prohibited persons break into their house or business were not penalized under the bill. The bill defined a "minor" as any person under the age of 18 and a "prohibited person" as anyone who is prohibited under federal or state law to possess or own a firearm, committed to a mental institution or subject to a protective order.

Zelenka and Baudean suggested alternatives to the bill, such as gun safety training and education protocols in schools.

Specifically, Baudean suggested free online safety training available through the state police, future initiatives in elementary schools for gun safety such as the DARE program, and general gun safety education in schools.

"The bottom line is they don't want to change," Barrow said. "We don't want to change what we currently have. We want to keep it as is."