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There are many reasons why gun safety shouldn’t be overlooked. Unfortunately, though, there are many parents who undermine the importance of taking all the means of precautions when it comes to gun ownership. Statistically speaking, children are killed weekly due to the attention lapse of adults, leading to tragic accidents and even deaths. In 2018 alone, no less than 73 children were killed in accidents, due to the fact that adults didn’t secure their guns accordingly.
Concurrently, according to this source, in 2017, 285 children got hold of a gun and accidentally shot someone else or themselves. Adolescents should be factored in as well. That’s because they are at a higher risk of committing suicide especially when there is an unlocked gun inside the house.
Irrespective of these staggering facts, 2 million children live in houses with unlocked, loaded guns. What should a responsible, passionate shooter do in this respect?
How to Reduce the Chances of Injury?
There are many ways in which you can diminish the likelihood of such incidents happening in your house. For one thing, you should acknowledge that the dangers are real. Children are likely to be victims in accidents when there is a loaded gun inside a house, and it isn’t stored adequately. Therefore, what can you do as a passionate shooter? Most likely you don’t want to give up on your hobby.
- Safe Storage Is the Key
First of all, adequately storing and locking your guns will most likely diminish the likelihood of such tragic outcomes. In this respect, there are massive locks and high-quality gun safes that are made to provide maximum protection in all case scenarios. The good thing is that there is a wide variety of safes on the marketplace to choose from, depending on your needs. At the end of the day, there’s no such thing as being too careful when it comes to your children’s safety, is there?
With that in mind, all the guns you own should be located in a safe. Concurrently, all guns should be unloaded, for safety reasons as well. Plus, the law clearly states that as a shooter and a gun owner, you are responsible for storing the weapon/s in a secured container. In addition to that, you should also disable it with a gun lock.
Sadly, though, the reason why accidental deaths are so frequent is precisely due to the fact that many shooters overlook the importance of practicing adequate gun storage practices. In addition to that, in some states in the US – such as New York, California, Connecticut and others – the law states that you should keep your ammo and firearms separately. This is another important measure of protection that might reduce the likelihood of accidents. As for the ammunition, it should also be locked and appropriately stored.
It goes without saying that the storage location must be out of reach for children. Before placing a firearm in the safe, you should double-check to ensure that it is unloaded. Accidents can happen when you aren’t careful, so don’t take safety for granted.
- Storing Your Ammo and Firearms Separately
It might seem unusual that many passionate shooters don’t keep their firearms and their ammo separately. But when you have children in the house, this is a necessity – whether the law in your state requires it or not. The last thing you want is for your children to get a hold of the gun while having ammunition readily available.
The thing is that children tend to be curious and they are normally attracted to the things they can’t understand. Guns can also seem intriguing to adolescents and even toddlers. For convenience purposes, you might choose to keep your ammunition and firearms in the same place. Still, this is contraindicated for safety reasons. This is applicable if you have children of your own or if you have families with children visiting as well.
You might say that there’s no use in having a gun inside the house if you can’t store the ammunition in the close proximity. There is a solution to this problem as well. You should invest in a container that is separate from the safe where you keep your guns.
- Other Important Guidelines to Increase the Safety of Your Children
You should always store your ammo and your gun in a safe container. This is a golden rule that applies in all case scenarios. Another important piece of advice would be to avoid hiding your gun or guns around the house. Many shooters choose this approach so that they would have immediate access to a gun in the case anything happens.
In addition to that, you should never disclose the code to the safe to anybody. Of course, the only case in which you should do so is if you really trust the other person as he/she is reliable. But be cautious.
Always, but always double-check a gun before placing it in a safe. Doing proper maintenance checks is a necessity when you own a gun, especially when there are children in the house. In addition to that, although your knowledge of guns is far-reaching and you are constantly learning new things, you shouldn’t assume that you know everything. Keep an open mind and acknowledge that unprecedented situations can happen to anyone. Although practice and experience are important, this doesn’t mean you can’t exclude the likelihood of an accident altogether. Precaution is always best.
Final Thoughts
To conclude, if more shooters would embrace a responsible behavior when it comes to storing and using their guns, the numbers of accidents would be drastically reduced. It’s up for us to acknowledge this and do our best to maximize the safety of our loved ones. Doing something as important as purchasing an appropriate safe for your guns can dramatically reduce the incidence of accidents. Make sure you don’t overlook this. Stay safe!
