VELPEN – Indiana First Lady Janet Holcomb will join ranks with first responders on Friday (Sept. 16) to raise awareness and funds for the Indiana Sheriffs’ Youth Ranch and family firearms safety. Holcomb will be the honored guest at ISYR’s 5th Annual Sheriffs’ Shotgun Shoot for Firearms Safety at Cool Springs Education Center in Southwest Indiana.
“Accidental gun deaths occur mainly to those under 25 years old,” said former Marion County Sheriff John Layton, ISYR’s founder and president. “So far in 2022, 209 children under 17 have died by gunshot and an additional 519 have been injured. Adolescents are particularly susceptible to accidental shootings due to their impulsivity, feelings of invincibility, and curiosity.”
Layton said experts attribute the lack of gun safes and failure to use trigger locks too much to the tragic uptick of accidental shootings involving youth in recent months. Here in Indiana, sportsmen and sportswomen are joining ranks with public safety leaders to raise funds for firearms safety programs through the new Indiana Sheriffs’ Youth Ranch for future law enforcement officers, at-risk kids, young witnesses, and victims of crime, Layton said.
“National Rifle Association age-appropriate curriculum will be funded through the 5th Annual Sheriffs’ Shotgun Shoot for Firearms Safety at Cool Springs Education Center on Sept. 16,” Layton said.
NRA’s Eddie Eagle videos, posters, activity books, and take-home materials for parents and grandparents are part of an ongoing, statewide public-awareness campaign by ISYR as funds are raised, Layton said.
