With 40% of American Families possessing firearms, the matter of protecting our children from gun accidents is a huge concern in America. It is possible for parents to keep their children safe when they choose to own weapons and keep them in the home.
Children or teens cannot be responsible for their own safety; it is the responsibility of the parents or adults of the household.
5 Steps To Improve Gun Safety for Kids
Gun safety for kids is beyond important. Centers for Disease Control Prevention (CDC) indicate that…
- 311 children aged 14 and under were killed in unintentional shootings between 2007 and 2011 – an average of 62 per year.
- An estimated 660 children were hospitalized each year with non-fatal, unintentional firearm injuries.
- 1.7M children live in homes with guns that are both loaded and unlocked.
1. If a gun is in the home, make sure it is properly locked up and stored in an approved safe with the ammunition locked and stored in a different area.
- 70% of children under age 10 know where their parents stored their guns.
- 36% of the children reported handling the weapons.
2. Assume a child will find any gun that is not physically secured regardless of how well you think it is hidden.
The vast majority of accidental firearm deaths among children are related to child access to firearms – either self-inflicted or at the hands of another child. Keep in mind that children are naturally curious and often listen to the encouragement of their friends instead of the good sense of their parents.
Keep all guns securely away from children and in a storage that will not allow access under any conditions. Even though you have had the necessary conversations with your children and you feel they understand you, do not become complacent in this area. Complacency can kill.
3. Teach kids about firearms in a controlled setting. Children are curious and will investigate things they don't fully understand.
- One-third of American homes have a firearm.
- 43% of those have at least one firearm unsecured and unlocked.
4. When children go to another location, ask about the gun's presence and whether or not the firearm is secured.
- Friends
- Relatives
- Child Care Providers
More than two-thirds of gun-related tragedies could be avoided if guns were properly stored and children couldn't access them.
5. Let's make 2017 the best year on the record. Spread the word to others – together we can beat this.
If you're looking for some products to assist in gun safety for your kids, check out these options:
- Keep yours and your child's eyes safe with Pyramex Avante Safety Eyewear
- Knowing your stuff when it comes to kid's gun safety is a much, Try this Guns the Right Way: Introducing Kids to Firearm Safety and Shooting book!
- When not in use, always keep your guns safely locked up in this AmazonBasics Security Safe
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on January 18, 2017, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.
Children are endlessly curious, and this leads to the “grabbies.” I’m a gun dealer. Our rule was that our children–now in their 20s– could handle any gun I brought into the house as long as I or their mother handed it to them. We could demonstrate proper gun handling to them. We never had any doubt our approach worked.
When I was a kid growing up in the South, I didn’t know anyone who didn’t have guns in their homes and very few who didn’t have any in their vehicles. This was back when people didn’t lock their doors and most left the car key in the car/truck. The trucks came with a gun rack already installed over the rear window and no one was ignorant enough to ask if the guns that people put in the racks were loaded. Now maybe if someone from a different country was visiting and did ask they would have been told of course they are loaded what’s the point in having them there if they unload. Gun locks and safes didn’t exist back then and the adults didn’t try to hide guns from children what they did was let me children know that if they looked at the gun to hard they would get their butt whipped. When the child was big enough to hold a gun safely they would be taken out and shown how it works, safe handling, and after showing they understood what they were being taught they would finally be given a couple bullets and after safely loading the weapon you got to fire it. Then you would get the don’t even look hard at it unless one of your adult relatives was going to teach you some more and even then you never touched it until they placed it into your hands or you would be doing everything standing up for over a week because your butt will be so sore from the whipping you will get speech again. The way gun safety was done for my generation and before seemed to have worked better you didn’t hear about children accidentally shooting other children and guns were easier to get access to back then