Child Safety Around Guns

A gun owner’s most important responsibility is to keep firearms from falling into the wrong hands. You are responsible for teaching gun safety to your children whether you keep a gun in your home or not. If there is an unlocked gun in your home or in the home where your child plays, talk to him or her more than once about guns and gun safety. When you discuss firearms explain that TV, movies, and video games give a false impression of gun use. Tell your children what guns are used for by the police, by hunters, and for personal protection.

You never want your children to find a gun, think it’s a toy, and not understand the consequences. You simply cannot assume that your child truly understands what a gun is for. Children five and under are some of the most tragic statistics when it comes to being killed by guns. Following are the best precautions to take to prevent tragic consequences as the result of unsafe storage of guns:

• Keep guns locked in a safe and out of reach of children.
• Store ammunition in a place different from your guns.
• Never leave a gun out and unattended.
• Make sure your kids understand they should never touch a gun or gun parts.

Al Flaherty’s Outdoor Store in Toronto sells handguns, rifles, shotguns, and air guns, and promotes child safety around guns. Talk to the staff about a gun safe or other items to secure your guns away from children. Check out the store’s full inventory of Smith & Wesson firearms when you review their items online or in the store.