For the most part, adults are familiar with the best ways to safely use a firearm, but this information has often been learned over a series of many years.
While you don’t want your children or loved ones to fear firearms, it is important that you help nurture a healthy respect for guns and other weapons. This knowledge will help keep them safe from accidental discharge of a gun towards themselves or others.
Here are 5 rules of gun safety that you should share with your family and friends.
1. Guns Are Not Toys
There are plenty of toy weapons on the market today that look so much like guns that they could even fool a trained police officer. There are also “real” guns that look surprisingly like plastic toys — so it’s important that your children are able to tell the difference between the two and follow gun safety rules at all times.
2. Treat All Guns As If They’re Loaded
Keeping fingers away from the trigger is only the first part of treating all guns as if they’re loaded. You should always keep guns pointed in a safe direction and away from other people. Kids love to swing their arms, and this can be a big problem if they happen to be holding a handgun, for example. Guns should always be treated as though they’re ready to fire, even when the safety is on and the gun doesn’t have a magazine in it.
3. Guns Can Keep You Safe
Yes, guns can be deadly, but they are also one of the best protection mechanisms available in the world. When children and family members are comfortable around weapons, they are able to help educate others of the benefits of safe gun ownership. This includes keeping ammunition separate from guns and locking both away from small children who are not yet ready to wield a gun. Education is one of the most important weapons that we have in the fight to maintain our Second Amendment rights.
4. Tell Someone About Unsafe Gun Use or Guns
If you see a friend or family member using a gun in an unsafe way — speak up! That individual may simply not know the correct rules of gun safety, and a quick conversation can easily save a life. If you see another child playing with guns, educate your young ones that it’s okay to tell an adult due to the seriousness of the danger involved.
5. Always Pay Attention to Guns
When you’re working with a firearm, it’s not the right time to be multitasking. Instead, you should have a singular focus on the gun and your surroundings to be sure that you’re continually safe and not putting others in harm’s way. Distracted use of firearms is a big no-no!
Keeping your children and family safe around guns starts with education, and these five simple rules will help you maintain a safe and positive relationship with guns.
~ Firearm Daily
