Keep Your Kids Safe Around Guns

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Teach Your Kids To Be Safe Around (1)

Everyone has a different opinion about guns.  I grew up in Chicago where there are only 2 reasons to have a gun,  either because you’re a cop or because you’re a crook.  So I think guns are terrifying.  My husband, on the other hand grew up in Michigan and went on his first hunting trip when he was 7 years old.  He grew up with guns, so to him they are for protection and food.  Whatever your feelings on guns are, there is a good chance your children will at some point in their lives be in a home with a gun, whether it is your home or a friends.  It’s a good idea to have a few rules in place and teach them about guns to avoid any tragic accidents.   Somehow, in our house, I lost the “we will never own a gun” debate and we now have several.  All of our guns are safely locked away in gun safes that are fingerprint accessible only to my husband and myself.  But, unfortunately, not everyone locks up their guns especially if their children are older and have been taught gun safety.  In our house we have 3 rules that are, I feel, critical in teaching your children about basic gun safety, especially small children.

1) Always ask to play with a gun.  A lot of toys look like real guns and a lot of real guns now look like toys.  As silly as it may be, every time our kids want to play with even their Nerf guns they have to ask first!  We don’t own any guns that look real, no cowboy or police toy guns, and even though there is no mistaking our guns are toys they still have to ask.  It’s a habit I want to instill in them early.  Most of our friends kids are boys.  There is no doubt that boys like playing with toy guns.  When we go to friends houses they all have real looking toy guns and my kids absolutely MUST ask first every time.  Even if they have played with it before.  We also often go to the gun section at sporting goods stores to show them the pink and purple guns so that they are aware that real guns can look like toys but are still very dangerous.

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2) No shooting at anyone’s head or face.  When playing with toy guns it is never okay to aim at someone’s head.  Teach your kids to always aim at arms or legs.  Even when playing with Nerf guns, it could hurt if you hit someone’s eye or cheek so just imagine what could happen if your child accidentally got a hold of a real gun.  It’s another rule that is something that I want to become a habit in our house.

3) As a parent, make yourself aware if there are guns in a home.  It’s a weird question to ask, especially if you are not close with the other parents, but if your child is at a friend’s house you need to be aware if they have a gun in the home.  If the answer is yes, you need to know if that gun is locked up or accessible to the children.  You should make your child aware that there is a gun in the house so they take extra precaution when playing with toy guns.

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Teaching your children a basic understanding of guns will give you a peace of mind.  Most parents don’t think twice about guns when sending kids to a friend’s house but it definitely needs to be addressed.  Here in Arizona, we have some of the most nonrestrictive gun laws in the country and we need to be more aware for our children as well as equip them with the tools to stay safe.  Do you have guns in your home?  If so, what are some of the rules that you have in place to keep your kids and their friends safe?

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