Twenty U.S. kids are hospitalized each day for gun injuries. Nearly a third of these shootings are accidental, shows a Yale study

A gun is blind, deaf and dumb. It speaks the language of the person who carries it. Gun ownership rights in the US are guaranteed by the constitution of the country and people have been purchasing weapons as if there was no day after tomorrow. Since the rate of weapon purchase has ceased to break speed, more kids are exposed to the dangers of a firearm in their homes, especially unprotected pieces belonging to their ‘I-care-less’ category parents. Parents should take extra care to ensure that all rules pertaining to gun safety for kids are in place at their homes.

Background info

Since 1999 till 2010, nearly 800 children under the age of 14 were killed in gun accidents, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition, nearly one in five injury-related deaths in children and adolescents involve firearms.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, “Guns cause twice as much death in youngsters as cancer, five times as many as heart disease, and 15 times as many as infections.”

Regarding the issue of kids and gun safety rules at home, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a study in 2005 that showed that storing locked and unloaded guns visibly reduces the risk of both injuries and suicides by approximately 70 percent.

Protecting your own

Naturally, the most effective method to keep your kids safe from injury and death at home is to keep your house gun-free. If you find it hard to end the fling with a gun and a sling, then make sure that you implement some of the following rules at home:

• Unload, uncock and store your piece in a secure box hidden at a secure position.
• Keep the keys to the weapons room with you at all times (please).
• Store the gun and ammunitions at two different places that is easily accessible to you but not to your children.
• Talk to your kids about the specifications of guns and how these cannot be regarded as toys to be played with.
• Use trigger locks and other childproof devices on your weapon to prevent it from falling into the wrong set of tiny hands.
• Teach kids to call an adult immediately if they spot a gun at an unsecure location.
• Keep the gun-cleaning equipment out of reach of children because the products are mostly poisonous.
• Secure the house by looking at it from a kid’s point of view. Get down on your knees and search all dark spaces under the sofas and beds.

A house cannot be made 100 percent secure and it is best to maintain strict supervision around your humble abode to prevent kids from getting injured. Teenagers are very keen on exploring new things to develop their minds and bodies. This characteristic can cease to be a blessing in disguise if a kid gets his/her hands on your gun.