GUN SAFETY Consider the following statements…
- More than 50 million Americans own firearms
- Of the 200 million firearms owned in the United States, 75 million are handguns
- Research Shows Guns in Homes are a Serious Risk to Families
- A gun kept in the home is far more likely to kill someone known to the family than to kill or injure an intruder
- A gun kept in the home triples the risk of homicide
- The risk of suicide is 5 times more likely if a gun is kept in the home
The best way to keep your children safe from injury or death from guns is to NEVER have a gun in your home
About one-third of homes with kids have guns, many left unlocked or loaded. Just talking to your child about the dangers of firearms is not enough. Children are naturally curious.
If a gun is accessible in someone’s home, there is a good chance a child will find it and play with it.
Countless tragedies have occurred when kids found guns that parents thought were well hidden or safely stored
If you own a gun and have it at home or anywhere where children are present, please follow these important safety tips:
- Always keep the gun unloaded and locked up.
- Lock and store the bullets in a separate place.
- Make sure to hide the keys to the locked boxes.
Be prepared. Make sure your children know what to do if he or she finds a gun?
Parents play a key role in developing safe practices and are ultimately responsible for the behavior and safety of their children. Isolated lessons and concepts can quickly be forgotten but with repetition, children remember standard safety procedures.
The Children’s Safety Village uses the “Eddie Eagle GunSafe®” gun safety program. It is a gun accident prevention program that seeks to help parents, law enforcement, community groups and educators navigate a topic paramount to our children’s safety.
The Eddie Eagle GunSafe program focus on a simple action plan in the event your children ever come across a firearm.
The plan is centered on 4 basic calls to action: Stop, Don’t Touch, Run Away and Tell a Grown-up. See below:
STOP!
This first step is crucial. Stopping first allows your child the time he or she needs to remember the rest of the safety instructions.
DON’T TOUCH
A firearm that is not touched or disturbed is unlikely to be fired and otherwise endanger your child or other people.
RUN AWAY
This removes the temptation to touch the firearm as well as the danger that another person may negligently cause it to fire.
TELL A GROWN-UP
Children should seek a trustworthy adult, neighbor, relative or teacher – if a parent or guardian is not available.
Please take the time to watch this video with your child and let them know again and again how important is that they follow this simple but effective plan if they come across a gun at home or somewhere else.
For additional questions and more information, including games, videos, coloring pages, storybooks and much more, please visit the “Eddie Eagle GunSafe®” gun safety program online at the Eddie Eagle Tree House web site: http://www.eddieeagle.com