When Joshua Adames was 13 years old, he visited the home of a friend, where the friend showed off his father’s gun. While the magazine had been removed from the weapon, the bullet in the chamber had not.
Then the friend pointed the gun at Joshua and pulled the trigger.
On Aug. 1, Joshua should have celebrated his 31st birthday. Instead, his uncle Hector Adames is sharing the story of his death in order to prevent another senseless killing.
Joshua’s story is one example that the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence says highlights the importance of its new campaign, End Family Fire, a comprehensive public education effort focused on properly storing guns inside the home.
“When you lose someone and the situation could have been avoided or prevented, it angers you and incites you to do something,” Adames tells PEOPLE. “My intention is to bring meaning to my nephew’s life.”
Every day, eight children are unintentionally killed or injured from a gun, which are often not locked or unloaded, according to statistics provided from the Brady Center. More than 4.6 million children live in homes with loaded and unlocked guns, and three in four know where the guns in their home are stored.
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The Brady Center’s president, Kris Brown, says the campaign is created for everyone, not just gun owners.
“If I’m not a gun owner but I’m sending my child on a play date to someone else’s home, I understand that any real risk associated with having a loaded and unlocked gun has been mitigated because that gun is safely secured,” she tells PEOPLE.
The creators of the campaign hope the term “family fire” becomes as familiar as designated driver and second-hand smoke.
“The intent is to change people’s behavior and save lives,” Adames says about the educational program, which was created with the help of the AdCouncil and Droga5.
He says the campaign will be successful if it saves one life and prevents another family from suffering.
“We’ve grown accustomed to living life without Joshua. Days don’t go by that I don’t think about what kind of man he’d be right now,” Adames says, his voice cracking. “I would like an opportunity to have one more hug, one more conversation with him.”
