Guns and Children: They Should Be Taught At An Early Age!

More than half of the American households have self-defense guns on them. Whether you choose to keep a gun at home or not, it is possible for your child to own one in the future. Therefore, for your child’s safety, you must educate him or her on the safety of handling and dealing with guns.

If you have a gun at home for self-defense purposes, you are responsible on the safety of your children at home and the other kids that come to your home from time to time. If you don’t want to hold any responsibility with this, then it is recommended that you should not have a gun at all. The safety of guns at home includes safe storage, handling and use of guns.

There are some states that implement strict laws for adults to make sure that they do not protect the deadly weapons from the access of children. Adults, on the other hand, should be responsible in learning and following such laws regarding the purchase, transport, transfer, ownership and registration of firearms. You can know more about this by contacting the nearest police on your place. The safety of your children depends upon how responsible you are as a gun owner.

The federal statistics says that more than one third of the US households have guns on them. Therefore, it is your responsibility to teach your own child whether you own a gun or not.

Let’s take a look at the statistics:

• In 2002, Injury Facts from National Safety Council reported that:

• There are 3,385 children and youth aged 0 – 19 years were killed by guns on homicides, suicides and unintentional deaths. The cases include:

• 214 unintentional injuries

• 1,078 suicides

• 1,990 homicides

• 83 unidentified intentions

• 20 legal interventions

These are the total deaths by age:

• Below 5 years old – 73 deaths

• 5 – 14 years old – 416 deaths

• 15 – 19 years old – 2,896 deaths

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are 2,514 children aged 0 – 14 years old who were non-fatally injured by guns back in 1997. During that year, there are also 30,225 youths aged 15 – 24 years old that suffered from non-fatal injuries from guns due to suicides and negligent discharges.

The biggest concern for this issue is that most parents do not know how to keep their firearms at home safely. Since most injuries occur to teenagers, and they are the ones who are at higher risk of attempting suicide using guns, parents must always keep their firearms locked and unloaded at all times and separate the ammunition from the gun. If the child is always visiting the house of a friend, the parent must ask that friend whether they keep a gun at home and how they keep it.

When it comes to educating the children about guns, the basic question most parents would ask is, what should be taught and how? When teaching about guns, be realistic and discuss honestly about firearms. If you tell your children to stay away from a gun closet, explain the reasons why he or she should do so. Discuss the dangers of children handling guns because they will not easily understand the difference of being killed on television and being killed in a real-life situation.

You may use your child’s toy guns during demonstration, or you may let them watch you shoot a watermelon or a cantaloupe so that they will know the damage and the noise coming from a gun. The “Disarming Kid’s Curiosity” by Kathy Jackson have suggested an effective way of disciplining your child on guns.

NRA Eddie Eagle GunSafe® Rules for Children:

STOP!

Don’t Touch.

Leave the Area.

Tell an Adult.