Gun Safety

Many families enjoy hunting. Others prefer perfecting their skills by firing at targets. Most of these families are responsible gun owners. Even so, children are curious and can put themselves in harm’s way regardless of the good intentions of loving adults. As a result, it is important to consider how best to protect our children from unintentional injury.

Protecting our kids from gun related injury or death takes educating ourselves and our children. It requires diligent supervision of our youngest children, who are especially at risk of unintentional injury by a gun that they find. It also involves continued supervision of our older children. Keeping the lines of communication open is vital and helps kids feel comfortable talking with parents about their concerns and fears. This is especially true with guns.

 
Statistics

According to the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) nearly 3,000 children and teens died as a result of guns in 2004 alone. These numbers come directly from the Center for Disease Control and the CDF attempts to put this number into perspective. They explain that this means that more of our children died in one year from guns, than the total number of American soldiers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan since those wars began through December of 2006! This sobering fact underscores the seriousness of the issue.

In their recent annual report, the Children’s Defense Fund put the death toll of 2004 another way by explaining that while 57 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty that year, 58 preschoolers were killed by guns. This highlights just how vulnerable our youngest children are to unintentional gun related death and injury.

Although the number of children who die annually as a result of guns is high, the number of children injured each year is even greater. According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2005 more than 16,000 children were injured by a firearm.

In addition, Peter Hart Research Associates points out that more than 40% of American homes with children have guns in the home, which means that approximately 22 million children live in a home with at least one firearm.

Storage is the biggest concern. Many recommend locking and storing the gun and the ammunition separately. It is further recommended that the keys be kept where kids can’t find them. According to the CDC, 1.69 million kids under the age of 18 live homes with loaded and unlocked firearms.

Peter Hart Research Associates also discovered that 28% of gun owners with children didn’t always store weapons in a locked and secure place. Only 25% occasionally locked and stored the bullets and firearm(s) separately.

 
Gun Safety Checklist

Roll playing with your child is a great way to keep him or her safe. Just like with fire safety, it is important to practice the important safety steps you child should take if there was a fire, or in this case, if they found a gun.

Keeping the below guidelines in mind is an important step in protecting your children from experiencing tragic results should they find or be exposed to a firearm. It can be awkward asking about firearms in the home of a new friend, but doing so may save a child’s life.

____ Before your child goes to the home of a new friend, ask the parents if there are firearms on the property. If so, ask where and how they are stored. Ask if the children of the home know about the firearms. Ask if the children of the home have access to the firearms and if they know how to use them.
____ Teach your children that if they find a firearm they should: (1) Stop (2) Keep their hands off of the gun and (3) Leave the area and tell a trusted adult
____ Have your child pretend that they’ve found a gun and practice the 3-step safety precautions above.
____ Keep all firearms emptied when not in use.
____ Keep all firearms should be locked and stored separately from all ammunition.
____ Keep the keys to the firearms and the ammunition stored in a location that is outside the reach of children.
____ Teach children to never touch a firearm without your permission.
____ Teach children to treat every firearm as if it is loaded.
____ Teach children to never point a firearm at a person.

 
Resources for Parents and Caregivers