With all the horrid stories of children and guns we’ve been hearing in the news lately, it is important that we further educate our youth and their guardians on the subject. Everytown for Gun Safety, a movement of Americans working together to end gun violence and build safer communities, reported that “eight of 118 unintentional shootings involving children have taken place in Ohio (Perry, 2014).”
Knowledge is vital in order to prevent these sorts of mishaps from occurring. In an effort to educate children about the dangers of guns and prevent further accidents from occurring, police officers have begun to incorporate preventative information on the subject into Safety Town sessions and through the National Rifle Association’s Eddie Eagle program. They have also reached out to educating adults on responsible gun storage through groups such as Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense.
“Stop, don’t touch, leave the area and tell an adult,” has become a common phrase being shouted as a response when children attending Safety Town sessions are asked what they should do when they encounter a fire arm somewhere in their home. This message is straight forward and simple enough for young children to understand while providing vital steps for them to follow at the same time.
According to a study conducted by Harvard on children in gun-owning households, “more than 70% of children under age 10 knew where their parents stored their guns – even where they were hidden – and 36 percent of the children reported handling the weapons (Perry, 2014).”
Even more astonishing, it has been proven that, “some 70 percent of the shooting deaths uncovered in this report could have been prevented if the guns had been unloaded and locked away in a place separate from where the ammunition is kept (Perry, 2014).”
Help to protect your children. Stop overestimating their knowledge when it comes to gun use and underestimating their knowledge of where the weapons are stored. Let’s cut back on the ridiculously high number of accidental gun shooting cases that take place annually across our nation. Simple safety steps, such as storing ammunition away from guns, can help save a life.
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