This resolution expresses support for designating June 21, 2026, as National ASK (Asking Saves Kids) Day to promote children's health through secure gun storage awareness.
Jason Crow
Representative
CO-6
This resolution expresses support for designating June 21, 2026, as National ASK (Asking Saves Kids) Day. The day aims to promote children's health by encouraging parents to ask about the secure storage of guns in homes before their children visit. It highlights the critical need for safe gun storage given the high rates of youth firearm deaths and injuries.
New Resolution Designates June 21, 2026, as National ASK Day to Tackle Child Firearm Safety
This resolution formally supports designating June 21, 2026, as National ASK (Asking Saves Kids) Day, a move aimed squarely at reducing the leading cause of death for children in the U.S.: firearm-related injuries. By backing the ASK Campaign—a program developed with the American Academy of Pediatrics—the measure encourages parents to ask a simple, two-part question before sending their kids on playdates: "Is there a gun in your house?" and "Is it locked and unloaded?" The resolution highlights a sobering reality for parents: roughly 6.7 million children live in homes with loaded and unlocked firearms, and over 80% of guns used in youth suicide attempts come from a home familiar to the child.
The Playdate Protocol
In the real world, this isn't about complex regulations; it’s about changing the social script for parents and caregivers. For a busy parent dropping their kid off at a new friend’s house, the resolution aims to normalize a conversation that can often feel awkward or intrusive. By establishing a national day on the first day of summer—peak season for neighborhood play—the bill seeks to make this safety check as routine as asking about peanut allergies or pool fences. The text specifically points to GAO-validated data showing that this "ask" is an effective way to prompt secure storage, noting that 76% of school shooters under 18 accessed guns from their own home or a relative's house (Section 1).
A New Role for the Family Doctor
Beyond the backyard, the resolution explicitly encourages a shift in how healthcare is delivered. It calls on doctors, nurses, and public health professionals to integrate discussions about gun ownership and secure storage into their regular patient visits. For a family at a routine check-up, this means your pediatrician might start asking about how firearms are stored as a standard part of the safety screening, right alongside questions about car seats and smoke detectors. The goal is to move gun safety out of the political arena and into the realm of preventative medicine, treating unsecured firearms as a public health variable that can be managed through education and secure storage practices.