Reps. Miranda, Thomas Mourn Accidental Shooting of Pregnant Mother by Two-Year-Old Child

COLUMBUS – State Reps. Jessica E. Miranda (D-Forest Park) and Cecil Thomas (D-Cincinnati) today issued a statement from the House Gun Violence Prevention Caucus following last week’s fatal shooting of a pregnant mother by her two-year-old child.

“I was heartbroken to hear about the tragic shooting last Friday. My thoughts are with the family as they grieve the loss of a loving mother and the newest addition to their family. This horrible event could have been prevented by common sense gun legislation. I introduced HB 175, to stop tragedies like this from happening in Ohio, and I will continue to use my platform to promote legislation that will keep children safe” said Rep. Miranda.

“Unintentional shootings by children are unfortunately all too common,” said Rep. Thomas. “By promoting safe gun storage—ensuring guns are locked, unloaded, and separate from ammunition—we can prevent deaths like this in the future. This tragedy underscores the need for legislation that will make home storage of firearms safer, especially for children.”

There have been over 150 unintentional shootings by children in the United States this year. During the 135th General Assembly, Ohio Democrats have introduced legislation that would enact safe firearm storage requirements: House Bill (HB) 175, the Keep Every Home Safe Act (Miranda, Brewer), and HB 217 (Somani, Thomas, C.), which would require trigger locks to be attached and provided with firearm sales.