The Arizona Capitol Museum building at the State Capitol in Phoenix.
Two Republican state representatives, Quang Nguyen and Selina Bliss, are condemning the Arizona Department of Health Services’ child fatality review team after its release of its annual report. The report details every death of a child in Arizona as a way to review all possible factors involved.
The most recent report–issued in November–called for the removal of all firearms in households with children.
“Since the (Arizona Child Fatality Review Program) determined that access to guns was the biggest risk factor for firearm deaths, CFRP believes that the most effective way to prevent firearm-related deaths in children is to remove all firearms in households with children because the presence of firearms in a household increases the risk of suicide among adolescents,” chair Mary Ellen Rimsza wrote. “Parents of all adolescents should remove all guns from their homes, especially if there is a history of mental health issues or substance use issues.”
Nguyen and Bliss are calling for the review to be amended, citing concerns over “its unjustified attack on the Second Amendment.”
“We are appalled that the CFRT, speaking on behalf of the Arizona Department of Health Services, is actually advocating for stripping Arizonans of their Second Amendment rights in their own homes,” the two lawmakers wrote in a letter to Jennie Cunico, the Cabinet Executive Officer of the Arizona Department of Health Services. “The CFRT’s ‘do something’ approach to child-fatality legislation would not only violate the constitutional rights of millions of Arizonans; it is also irrational from a policy perspective.”
The report, which reviews deaths from the previous year, found that 68 firearm deaths in 2023 were preventable. Firearm injury was the fourth leading cause of death for children in the state, falling behind congenital anomalies, prematurity, and motor vehicle collisions.
The review detailed other recommendations for firearm death prevention including education on positive parenting strategies, policies on responsible firearm ownership, and increasing accessibility towards community mental health programs.
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