By Home Defense Gun Staffer Ashley
Keeping Kids and Guns Safe
Recently one of the children of a family friend injured themselves with a revolver. What happened is a ten year old boy who has always proven to be responsible and thoughtful was given a revolver for Christmas. The father of the boy was not all that into guns and technically was not allowed to have a gun, but the grandfather felt the ten year old was responsible enough.
A few days after receiving the revolver as a gift the ten year old boy took his revolver to the business of his grandfather. There he was seen waving it around and one of the workers took the gun from him and emptied it. That worker, not wanting to lose his job, handed the revolver back to the boy. The boy went to the house and reloaded the revolver, with his father’s knowledge. His father had to go outside and take care of some chore stuff. While outside the home the 10 year old accidentally shot himself in the foot and had to be taken to the hospital. Nobody else was hurt, and a very valuable lesson was learned. I hope this story can help others learn this lesson too.
This story has many “don’ts” when it comes to keeping kids safe around firearms. First, don’t give a firearm to a 10 year old especially when the parent isn’t all that interested in firearms or allowed to have them. Second, if you see a child with a firearm unattended, take the firearm from them. Just unloading the ammunition and keeping those bullets won’t do the trick; ammunition is sold in quantities large enough to reload a time or two. Third, never leave your young child alone with a loaded firearm.Keeping Kids Safe Around Firearms
This article is about keeping kids safe around firearms. Even the most responsible of children should not be left unattended with firearms. A ten year old boy who has not properly handled a firearm before should not be left alone with a loaded gun in the home. It can happen when least expected – putting the groceries away, unthawing frozen pipes, or changing a tire.
Hiding a firearm or telling children not touch them when you are not around doesn’t always do the trick. The sweet little girl that always listens may just want to look in that top drawer and see what the parents have hidden in there. The little boy who has always been responsible, helps with his siblings and shows great forethought may decide to play with the revolver. Sometimes no one gets hurt other times injury or death may occur.
When owning firearms and keeping them in the house with children present education and prevention go a long way to prevent accidents. Talk
to your kids, teach them that firearms are not to be handled or used when you are not present and supervising, and lock them up. There are many ways to lock up a firearm to include gun safes, cable locks and trigger locks. They are easy to use and some may even be free.For parents that don’t have firearms in the home, teaching your children about firearm safety is still essential. Your child may go visit a family member that owns firearms or a friend whose parents own firearms. Your child may find themselves in a situation where firearms are present and you are not. Arm them with knowledge. Many areas have hunter safety courses available. Even if your family isn’t into hunting and isn’t into owning a firearm, these courses are very good at teaching children to be safe around firearms.
The best thing you can teach your children about firearm safety:
1. All guns are always loaded. Even if you just cleared the weapon, treat it as if it was loaded.
2. Never point at anything you don’t intend to destroy. No matter what you shoot it will destroy it. Don’t point at things just for fun.
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot. I like to say keep your bugger hook off the bang switch.4. Be sure of your target and what is behind it. For this fourth rule my Dad used a very visual aide to help me understand that the bullet doesn’t stop at the target. He put a target on a board, then put a jug of colored water a little ways behind that. After shooting the board I discovered the water jug was hit too. I have always remembered that.
Teaching firearm safety isn’t just for children. If taking a friend out to shoot or teaching an adult how to handle a firearm for the first time don’t assume that the 4 general rules are common knowledge. Many intelligent and educated individuals don’t know how to properly handle a firearm. Firearm safety is everyone’s responsibility.
What have you done to make it safer for your children? Let us know in the comments.
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