BEAUMONT, Texas — Gun safety is in the spotlight after two local teens were accidentally shot in the span of ten days.
One of those incidents ended up killing 15-year-old James Johnson on Christmas Day in Buna.
The other injured a Vidor boy after he unintentionally shot himself in the face.
Danny Walker, a Jefferson County deputy, says gun education is important and begins with parents.
"It starts at the home with a parent," Walker said.
Walker tells 12News he understands the pain of losing someone to a gun firing by mistake after two of his teenage friends died.
"It really burned a memory in me," Walker said. "Being very early in my childhood, they were looking at an 'unloaded' gun to them and it ended up taking their life."
Walker is also the owner and operator of East Texas Tactical Firearms Training where he teaches gun safety classes.
"The first rule of gun safety to me is every gun is loaded," Walker said.
It's a lesson he teaches parents and kids.
"They will bring their child to the class and stay their with them and get educated on what we call the 'Learn to Shoot' class," Walker said.
Unfortunately, there have been many instances where a child has been accidentally shot.
Nearly 100 child accidental shootings have taken place in Texas since 2015, 34 of them being fatal according to "Everytown For Gun Safety."
In February 2019, a boy as young as 4 years old was involved in shooting his brother.
The conversation of educating children about guns is gaining attention nationwide, Virginia Senator Tommy Burnett has proposed a bill that would require all schools in the state to offer firearm safety classes.
Walker agrees with the idea and encourages anyone handling a gun to treat it with respect.
"It's like that rattlesnake, you don't just reach down there and grab it," Walker said. "It's not a cell phone, it's not a set of keys, it's very very dangerous."
Texas law (penal code 46.13) states a parent or adult can receive a Class C Misdemeanor for making a firearm accessible to a child under the age of 17.
Of course, nobody can legally buy or own a handgun under the age of 21 in Texas.