A sophomore at Howard University where she is majoring in TV and film, Kayla Austin is an award-winning activist, author, entrepreneur and inventor who first thought of owning a company named, ‘My Guns Been Moved,’ at the age of 12, and now at 19 has made a dream a reality, saving the lives of children who stumble across unsecured guns.
Already nationally recognized by AT&T Dream in Black Rising Future Maker, Austin was in third grade when she created her first invention and is now the proud CEO of her company that helps save the lives of youth who happen to stumble across loaded guns.
Her passion to reduce gun-related injuries and deaths is timely, given the number of children being shot just in Chicago alone. As of December 5, 2022, 364 juveniles have been shot in 2022 a decrease of 9.9 percent compared to last year when 404 youth were shot. That is an increase of 49 juveniles killed last year.
Austin’s remarks come on the heels of the fatal shooting of two Benito Juarez High School students and the wounding of two others.
The Chicago Police Department provided the Chicago Crusader with its latest shooting statistics as of December 11, 2022.
“My Guns Been Moved began when I was 12-years old,” said Austin who explained she was initially doing a research paper while enrolled in the Afro-Academics, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) program, on the shootings of children with guns owned by their parents.
“I realized that children are taking their parents’ guns accidentally shooting themselves, shooting their siblings and friends and even bringing them to schools,” Austin said. She vowed to invent something that would reduce these incidents.
Austin created “My Guns Been Moved” which alerts authorities or family members. When a child moves a gun a notification will be sent to the police, local law enforcement, spouse or anyone in that house. “I found out that these accidents are preventable.”
When asked how she financed the project, Austin said, “I recently won $25,000 from Pharrell Williams and Black Ambition HBCU prize.” Austin was one of 2,000 applicants and one of 25 people who received a prize. “I am really excited about that.”
Asked how many employees she has, Austin, who also specializes in content creation, said she has a social media team of eight who like her are enrolled in Communications at Howard University. In the future, she wants to be a TV producer or an editor. “I want to display my excellence on the screen,” Austin said. “I enjoy storytelling.”
Her mother, Helen Austin Crawley, is her co-founder; her aunt Sylvia Crawley, is her chief marketing officer.
When asked how her mother was instrumental in shaping her future, Austin said, “My mom has been very instrumental. When I first came up with the idea for this idea for a gun prevention company, a year later when I was 13 my mom said to me, “Let’s file for a patent so this can be so great.
“Had she not done that, I don’t know if this business would be in existence. She has guided me. She has such an entrepreneurial spirit. That was important to me during my childhood,” Austin said.
Her mother, a retired executive who has an Amazon partnership delivering products to homes and heads her own company helping people with their finances, said, “Having a daughter with a technical solution absolutely thrills my heart.
“But more importantly, it helps the community. I’m excited about helping her get into market. When you think of how many lives could be potentially be saved, I am totally excited.”
Austin said her chief goal is to save the lives of youth who get hold of their parents’ unprotected guns because there are children who lose their lives every single day. She wants to help reduce those incidents and plans on introducing her product in schools and throughout law enforcement agencies.
