‘End Family Fire’ Campaign Hopes to Combat Accidental Child Gun Deaths

Mr. Adames, a military veteran, said that while he respected gun rights, gun owners have a responsibility to keep firearms secure.

“I understand that families own guns because they want to protect themselves,” he said. “However, if you have an irresponsible gun owner in your neighborhood, your community isn’t safe.”

About 4.6 million children live in homes where at least one gun is both loaded and unlocked, according to a study published this year in the Journal of Urban Health. And both the Brady Center and the Ad Council want to continue the campaign until that number goes down.

“We focus on issues for the long haul, and when we take one on, our focus is to stay at it until the issue goes away,” said Lisa Sherman, chief executive of the Ad Council, which has promoted firearm safety for almost two decades.

Long before that, the group advanced famous campaigns on other subjects. Since 1944, it has helped promote wildfire safety through the use of Smokey Bear and his famous catchphrase. Starting in 1979, it called for crime prevention with McGruff the Crime Dog. And since 1985, it has promoted seatbelt safety, initially with a campaign featuring two lively crash test dummies.

The “End Family Fire” campaign was created by Droga5, an advertising company founded in 2006, that was also responsible for The New York Times’s ad campaign “The Truth Is Hard.” The gun campaign has received support from a number of other groups, including the American Psychological Association, the National Association of Social Workers, Bishops Against Gun Violence and Veterans for Gun Reform.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/08/business/media/family-fire-gun-safety.html?partner=rss&emc=rss