Brady Troubled by Reports that Oregon School Shooter Accessed Firearm From Home

Oldest gun violence prevention organization renews call for proven solutions, including secure firearms storage 

Washington, D.C., October 16, 2026 — Yesterday’s mass shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon — which left three children and one teacher dead, and a child and teacher critically injured — marks another devastating tragedy enabled by unsecured firearms. Law enforcement reports indicate the 16-year-old shooter used a shotgun that belonged to his mother. 

Brady, the nation’s oldest gun violence prevention organization, emphasizes the urgent need for secure firearm storage and evidence-based solutions to prevent future tragedies.

Brady President Kris Brown said:

My heart breaks for the families and the Bend community enduring this nightmare. Time and again, we see the fatal consequences when firearms are left unsecured. Nearly 80% of school shooters under 18 obtain their weapons from the home — the exact pattern seen in deadly shootings at Apalachee High School, Oxford High School, Sandy Hook Elementary School, and more. If every gun owner locked up and securely stored their weapons, we could prevent many of these horrific tragedies and save countless lives. True safety requires embedding responsible, secure storage into the culture of American gun ownership.

And still, conversations around solutions often focus solely on school security — a multi-billion-dollar industry — rather than stopping youth and those who intend to inflict harm from accessing firearms in the first place. Fortifying schools and handing kids bulletproof backpacks will not end our gun violence crisis. Silver Rail Elementary already had secure entry vestibules, photo ID checks, visitor screenings, security cameras, and internal door locks — and the shooter simply blasted through them.

Rather than hardening our schools and expecting civilians to confront armed shooters, we must commit to proven solutions. It is time to stop just preparing our children for the worst — and start preventing it.

Brady calls for solutions that will change the laws, change the industry, and change the conversation around firearms in America. Brady runs End Family Fire (endfamilyfire.org), an award-winning public education campaign developed with gun owners to prevent firearm deaths and injuries through secure storage. After seeing End Family Fire public service announcements (PSAs), gun owners are over three times more likely to seek information about safe storage and nearly half begin storing their weapons more safely. A personalized secure storage assessment is available here. Through Brady’s School Letter Campaign for Secure Gun Storage, over 300,000 families nationwide have accessed safe storage information to help keep their homes and schools safe from gun-related tragedies.