Gun Safety and Why It Matters
In Hollywood, scenarios with the bad guy being kept at bay by a relentless own homeowner who just so happens to keep a handgun in their nightstand aren’t always as easy as they make it look. No matter how afraid for yours or your family’s life you are, if you take another person’s life, the emotional damage can be severe for all parties involved. There is no good outcome when a life is taken.
No matter what your stance is on guns, the odds of your children coming in contact with a gun is higher than you would imagine. You may not have guns in your home, but, that doesn’t mean the homeowner’s where they visit aren’t as cautious as you. Statistics reveal that there are over 5536 of gun owners in the United States alone. What’s more shocking is that not all these individuals feel the need to discuss gun safety with their children.
Sadly, we hear more and more of the horror stories where a child found a gun and either accidentally shot themselves or other children around them. There are also the grim details of how a parent cleaning a gun inside the home, around others, have accidentally discharged a firearm, killing a child in the same area as the parent. This is a situation where a parent will suffer due to their carelessness for the rest of their lives.
Just because you don’t own a gun
Adults that have no ownership of guns more than likely feel no need in discussing gun safety with the children within the home or those that visit. A shocking 20‘3’ of gun owners admit to never sitting their children down to discuss the terms of gun safety. What if a minor child came for a visit and found a handgun lying around, pretending it was a toy and accidentally killed another child in the home? That alone is why you need to discuss gun-safety whether you own a gun or not. Same can be said if there aren’t guns within your home, but, the house your children visit have guns with easy access. Wouldn’t you want your children educated on what to do in this situation? Would they just know because they watch TV of the dangers a gun can turn a situation into rather quickly?
An average of 54°/n of homeowners that have no guns in their home feels no need to discuss the dangers. Again, you never know what your children with be subjected to at other houses. lt is equally important to teach gun safety even if you don’t own a gun.
The number of deaths is staggering
By changing one situation can alter the outcome of the death of a child due to careless misuse of a gun. Can you imagine knowing that had you had a talk with your children about gun safety, chances are you would still have your vibrant child back that was killed by a gun? The guilt associated with this scenario would be devastating to a family.
In the US. Along, 35 children are killed or injured daily by firearms. It seems logical that gun safety would be a topic as eagerly discussed as fire safety. Without properly educated children, gun safety rules are pretty much a useless tool.
Keeping children secluded from gun safety is a guarantee that they will not fully understand the danger while increasing the potential lethal outcome that could have been avoided. Without proper understanding, a child will react to their curiosity if a gun is found while not being properly supervised.
Guns will continue to be a huge role in today’s society and for all parents not to take the time to openly discuss gun safety and the devastating outcome curiosity can cause, is a major mistake on the parents part. Not only do you stand the chance of losing a child, but you can go to prison for the rest of your natural life for child endangerment. Children are being subjected to guns on school grounds simply because another child gained access to the weapon. The reality is, most young children do not associate guns with the final recourse of death. Most think it is a toy and by chance, they do take one onto school property, the odds are raised that someone is going to either be killed or seriously injured.
Suggestions for starting gun safety education
It is never too early to begin discussing the dangers of a gun. If the child is mentally capable of understanding what you are saying, you are going to open your child’s eyes to a dangerous situation whether you own a gun or not. If you, the parent are going to own a gun, it is a good idea that you and your spouse enroll for gun safety classes. You may be an expert shot with a gun, but, you never know what will transpire in the event of an intruder threatening the lives of your family. With both parents actively engaging in gun safety, they will be a positive influence on teaching a child the facts. If the child is too young to properly understand instructions, they learn by examples set by their parents, therefore, if the parents begin the discussion about the danger of guns, odds are the child will grow up understanding that guns aren’t meant to play with and death is final.
Children are taught respect in all given situations. If a child is consistently witnessing their parents being racist and casting threats towards other people, then chances are their children too will be racist towards others. Children learn by example, with the adults in their lives being the ones they are likely to mimic. As mentioned before, you teach fire safety to your children, why not be as determined to open their eyes to gun safety? Let’s face it, this is a violent world we live in with school shootings, mentally challenged individuals thinking it is their duty to take out as many people as they can in the workforce or home environment. These young adults killing other people gained access to the guns from somewhere. Being aware of where your children go and what type of rules are set in that home is important.
Important gun safety tips
- Allows keep the barrel of the gun pointed in a direction away from others. If there were to be an accidental discharge and the gun is pointed away, the odds are no injury will occur.
- Keep your finger away from the trigger until you are ready to discharge the gun.
- A “safe” gun is an unloaded gun. Never keep a loaded firearm around if it isn’t being used.
- Learn everything there is to know about your gun. Knowledge is your best tool in gun safety.
- Ensuring that your gun is always locked away with the key being hidden, will prevent curious children from wanting to play, often thinking it is a toy.
- Keep the ammunition in a different area as the gun.
- Using a locking system is another good technique in order to prevent accidental discharging of the gun.
Conclusion
Your home can never be too safe. As it is important to teach your children about the dangers lurking around the corner of your home with natural disasters, it is as important to instruct gun safety and go over it and over it as the child matures. A child can never be too smart when it comes to the repercussion of handling a firearm without an adult supervising. Remember, it is not a crime to ask for help in educating your children of the ins and outs of gun safety, but it is a crime if someone is killed or injured by a child in your presence.