Gun safety is for everyone. Many parents delay talking to children about unpleasant subjects like “good touch/bad touch” and gun safety until the child is “old enough.” But old enough may not be soon enough. A preschooler is old enough to learn the rules.

Firearm ownership is a fact of life in about half of the homes in the United States. Even if you don’t own a gun, your child will be in homes where guns are kept. All children must know what to do if they find a gun – just like they know what to do if they find matches or a lighter.

The rules are simple. Never touch or play with a gun. Leave the room. Tell an adult. Teach preschoolers safety rules by using “what-if” games. Repeat the safety rule several times, and then ask your child a “what-if” question. A gun safety “what-if” might be: “What if you found a gun on the table at Tommy’s house? What would you do?” The child uses the rule to answer the question.

Preschoolers like “what-if” games. They like to get the answer right, and they like to hear you praise them for their right answers. “What-if” games allow your child to stay safe from danger in an imaginary world so he or she knows how to stay safe from danger in the real world. Children who learn safety rules early have all the advantages. Safety rules become safety habits. These safety habits prepare children for the years ahead when they must take personal responsibility for their own safety.

The Size of the Problem Nationwide

• Each year, about 1,500 children ages 14 and under suffer unintentional firearm-related injuries.
• In 1997, almost 150 children ages 14 and under died from unintentional firearm-related injuries. Children ages 10 to 14 accounted for 85 percent of the deaths.
• About 3.3 million children live in homes with firearms that are always or sometimes kept loaded and unlocked.
• Gun locks and load indicators could prevent more than 30 percent of all unintentional firearm deaths.

Source: National SAFE KIDS Campaign

Safety Habits: Protect Your Child from Firearm Injuries

A home where a gun is kept is a dangerous place for children. If you have a gun in your home, it is your responsibility to reduce the risk of firearm injury to children by keeping it unloaded and locking it up.  Bullets should be locked up and stored separately from the gun.  Make sure children can’t get to the keys. Buy and use trigger locks.

Even if you don’t keep a gun in your home, your child should know what to do if he or she finds a gun. Teach your child never to touch or play with a gun, to leave the room immediately and to tell an adult.

Be sure your child knows the difference between TV violence and real world violence. Teach your child nonviolent ways to deal with anger and conflict.