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Parents play a key role in
developing safe practices and are ultimately responsible for the behavior and safety of their children. Because isolated lessons and
concepts can be quickly forgotten, repetition will help children
remember standard safety procedures.
The Parents' Responsibility
In a home where guns are kept, the degree of safety a child has
rests squarely on the child's parents.
Parents who accept the responsibility to learn, practice and
teach gun safety rules will ensure their child's safety to a much
greater extent than those who do not. Parental responsibility does
not end, however, when the child leaves the home.
According to federal statistics, there are guns in approximately
half of all U.S. households. Even if no one in your family owns a
gun, chances are that someone you know does. Your child could come
in contact with a gun at a neighbor's house, when playing with
friends, or under other circumstances outside your home.
It is critical for your child to know what to do if he or she
encounters a firearm anywhere, and it is the parents' responsibility
to provide that training.
Talking With Your Child About Gun Safety
There is no particular age to talk with your child about gun
safety. A good time to introduce the subject is the first time he or
she shows an interest in firearms, even toy pistols or rifles.
Talking openly and honestly about gun safety with your child is
usually more effective than just ordering him or her to "Stay out of
the gun closet," and leaving it at that. Such statements may just
stimulate a child's natural curiosity to investigate further.
As with any safety lesson, explaining the rules and answering a
child's questions help remove the mystery surrounding guns. Any
rules set for your own child should also apply to friends who visit
the home. This will help keep your child from being pressured into
showing a gun to a friend.
Toy Guns vs. Real Guns
It is also advisable, particularly with very young children, to
discuss gun use on television as opposed to gun use in real life.
Firearms are often handled carelessly in movies and on TV.
Additionally, children see TV and movie characters shot and "killed"
with well-documented frequency. When a young child sees that same
actor appear in another movie or TV show, confusion between
entertainment and real life may result. It may be a mistake to
assume that your child knows the difference between being "killed"
on TV and in reality.
If your child has toy guns, you may want to use them to
demonstrate safe gun handling and to explain how they differ from
genuine firearms. Even though an unsupervised child should not have
access to a gun, there should be no chance that he or she could
mistake a real gun for a toy.
What Should You Teach Your Child About
Gun Safety?
If you have decided that your child is not ready to be trained in
a gun's handling and use, teach him or her to follow the
instructions when they find a gun:
STOP!
Don't Touch.
Leave the Area.
Tell an Adult.
The initial steps of "Stop" and "Don't
Touch" are the most important. To counter the natural impulse to
touch a gun, it is imperative that you impress these steps of the
safety message upon your child.
In today's society, where adult supervision is not always
possible, the direction to "Leave the Area" is also
essential. Under some circumstances, area may be understood to be a
room if your child cannot physically leave the apartment or house.
"Tell an Adult" emphasizes that children should seek a
trustworthy adult, neighbor, relative or teacher -- if a parent or
guardian is not available. |