Gun Safety

We have all heard stories about children who are accidentally killed by guns at home or at friends' homes. These tragedies can be prevented if a few simple safety rules are followed.

Most parents know that electric outlets should be covered and that cleaning agents and other poisons should be kept away from children. However, more children younger than 10 are killed by guns than by poison or electrocution. Gunshot wounds are second only to car accidents as a cause of fatal injury in children. This means that gun safety in your home is as important as using car seats and seat belts in your car.

If there is a gun in your home, it must be kept out reach of your children and their friends. The gun must also be kept safe from family members who are depressed, who are abusive to others, who are abusing drugs (including alcohol) or who have Alzheimer's disease.

Children are naturally curious and like to explore. If there is a gun in your home, keep it unloaded and locked away, separate from the bullets, with the key available only to responsible adults. Teach your children what to do if they find a gun, even if they are not sure whether it is real or a toy. Teach them to remember these words: Stop! Don't touch! Go away! Tell an adult!

Before your child visits the home of a friend or a baby sitter, ask the parents at that home whether they have a gun in the house and, if so, whether the gun is unloaded and locked away.

Teenagers often act without thinking first. When teenagers are angry or depressed, they are more likely to kill or harm themselves if they can easily get a gun. It's best not to have a gun in your home at all if someone who lives there is depressed, thinking of suicide or is troubled.

Children learn how to behave by watching and doing what the adults around them do. It's best for the parents to talk peacefully in the home, to solve problems with discussion instead of anger or physical violence and to treat all people with respect.

Parents who want to raise peaceful children may also choose not to allow their children to watch violent TV shows, play video games that involve one player hurting another or play with toys that are pretend weapons.

Children who watch violent TV shows and play violent video games are likely to model violent behavior. Children who watch a lot of violent TV shows or movies may even have trouble understanding that violence in real life actually hurts people.