Basic Gun Safety Tips for Households with Children
Photo by Immo Wegmann from Unsplash
Gun safety is a big issue—especially when there are children in the house. In fact, nearly eight in ten Americans think that gun ownership should require a child safety lock or safe storage, according to an APM survey on key gun policies.
That’s not too surprising when you consider how often guns are involved in unintentional shootings by young children. Yet, shockingly, more than 50 percent of homes with guns don’t use any kind of gun lock or safe storage. If you’re one of the many gun owners who haven’t taken steps to secure your firearms, then this post is for you.
Storing Firearms and Gun Accessories
The first step in gun safety is ensuring that your firearm is always secured when not in use. You can accomplish this with a lock or safety device. A gun lock can be designed for either a handgun or rifle and should attach to the trigger guard if you have one. Remember that you should use both the trigger guard and lock simultaneously as they are designed for each other.
A safe is a top-of-the-line method of protecting your firearms while being out of reach from children, pets, and burglars. Safes have the added advantage of keeping your guns away from the firing pin, thus preventing wear from constant lock-and-unlock use.
Choose a safe with a combination that is easy to use but difficult for children to figure out and one that does not hang on the wall. You may also choose a biometric safe, which uses fingerprint identification to grant entry. A biometric safe has three major advantages: it’s quick, easy to access for you, difficult to break into, and requires no manual memorization of passcodes or combinations.
Store firearms and ammo separately. Ammunition should not be stored in the same place as guns. Ammunition is even more dangerous than a firearm for young children, as they may mistake them for toys and be tempted to play with them. A good rule is to store ammunition in another room or a different location altogether, away from where guns are stored.
Gun accessories, such as scopes, signs, and even carry handles, should be separate from your firearms as well.
Make sure your child or teen can’t figure out the safe combination or find the key to the lock. Never leave a loaded firearm within reach of children. Even if your children always follow the rules, any child can gain access to an unlocked gun.
Handling Firearms around Children
As with other dangerous household items, firearms should be handled carefully around children. Don’t let your children touch the gun, whether it is loaded or unloaded. When unloading the firearm, make sure the muzzle is pointed in a safe direction, away from anyone.
Don’t let children play with unloaded firearms. Take them to another room and keep them out of reach until you are ready to use them again. If your child is curious about guns, keep the conversation open and encourage them to ask questions. Many safety organizations offer free materials for children and families that can help initiate a discussion. Also, be sure to check out some of the great videos on gun safety for children!
Teaching Children Gun Hygiene
Always remember to keep a gun pointed in a safe direction when cleaning or handing it off to someone else. Ensure that you keep your firearms locked up and unloaded, even if you are playing with them. Educate your children about guns and how to use them in an appropriate manner.
Gun safety is a serious issue that should not be taken lightly. Since many households with children do not have their firearms secured, they are at risk of accidental shootings by unsafe gun owners. Even if you never intend to use your firearm for anything other than target practice, you are still responsible for how it is handled and stored.
Do Not Romanticize Gun Use
The media often glamorizes or romanticizes gun use. As a parent, you must teach kids the appropriate reaction to seeing a gun and make them understand that they are potentially lethal weapons, not “cool” accessories.
Instead of romanticizing guns, you should teach your children that guns are dangerous and can hurt people. They shouldn’t assume that guns are heroes or villains because one day, they may find themselves in a situation where there is an actual gun, not a toy. They must understand the difference between the two and stay away from real guns.
Final Thoughts
Parents, more than anyone else, want to keep their children safe from all manner of harm. That is why they need to teach and model gun safety around their children. Telling your kids to stay away from guns is not enough. You must follow the precautions above to ensure your kids don’t come to harm because of the presence of a gun at home.
You must follow the precautions above to ensure your kids don’t come to harm because of the presence of a gun at home. An additional tip, if you want to create your own firearm, an 80 lower jig allows you to easily take tools found around home to complete your 80% lower.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
