NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans City Council is holding adults accountable for kids who get their hands on guns.
At Thursday's council meeting, the council approved an ordinance that would allow adults to be arrested and charged with careless storage of a firearm.
Adults could face fines of $500 or more and six months or more in jail.
Now, the ordinance moves forward to Mayor LaToya Cantrell's desk for her signature and approval.
Councilmember Oliver Thomas authored the legislation.
“The most responsible thing that a gun owner can do, that an adult can do, is make sure they protect their gun and keep it away from their children, or other children," Thomas said.
Thomas said he was pushed by recent deaths and injuries of children who were accidentally shot.
According to Thomas, there were 10 kids in 2021 and nine kids in 2022 that were accidentally shot and killed. In 2023, a toddler was injured, and two teenagers were killed.
“Including the two recent shootings where teenagers who were friends amongst each other got access to a gun that was not protected, that was not in a lock box, it was not in a safe place and two friends were involved in the killing. We have to do something about that," Thomas said.
With no debate, other councilmembers voted yes.
Councilmember Eugene Green said this ordinance goes along with another that was recently adopted that raised the penalty for adults who fail to report their stolen weapons.
“If we would store our weapons more carefully and recognize the devastation that they can cause and families and to individuals, I think we would see better storage of our weapons," Green said.
Earlier this week, the council's criminal justice committee heard from advocates of the ordinance, including the NOPD and City Health Director, Dr. Jennifer Avegno.
Avegno said that Louisiana has the highest rate of accidental shootings in the country.