Teach Kids About Gun Safety

Teaching kids about guns can be a controversial subject.  When should you start?  How much should you teach them?  Ask ten people, you’ll get ten different answers.  I’m here today to provide mine, if you care to read it.  The big issue is, guns are out there, people have them.  We want everybody to be safe around them to avoid injuries or death.

Kids may come across a gun at some point in their life.  Perhaps they are at a friend’s house, and their friend’s mom or dad owns one, and forgot to lock it up.  Or a resource officer took one out of their holster in a school restroom and forgot to pick it up again when they were finished.  Or possibly a classmate brought one to school in a backpack.

When to start?

Guns are mythical objects.  Kids see them in movies all the time, where the bad guys get shot by the good guys, and if the good guys do get hurt, it’s never seriously.  They may see or hear about guns in the news, either in a good or a bad way (usually bad), but they don’t know fact from fiction.  Guns in movies rarely need to be reloaded, and there is almost never a safety enabled – unless it’s a plot requirement.

I recommend that you start talking to your kids once they start to either verbally express an interest in guns, or physically, by playing make believe like using a stick as a rifle – possibly beyond the level of innocent NERF or water gun games, if you believe that is all it is.  If you have a gun, and go to the range, they may ask to see it, or ask to go with you.  They may ask how it works.  It may be very obvious, or it may be more subtle.

You may not see beyond this, but if they are asking questions, they are thinking about them as well.  The actual age that this happens can’t be predicted, and I will not presume to set one.  As a parent of two teenagers, I know that every child matures differently, has different interests, and does their own thing at their own pace.  That is why it is up to the parents to make the determination on their own.

How to start and how much to teach them??

This is trickier and will depend on the child’s age.  The National Rifle Association has a program called the Eddie Eagle Gunsafe Program, designed for children in Pre-K through 4th grade.  They have a short video online, along with activity sheets focused to different age levels.  While this is written to be presented as a group activity, like at a school or other youth organizations. Eddie Eagle teaches four simple steps: Stop, Don’t Touch, Run Away, Tell a Grown-up.

As the child gets older, middle school may be the right time to look into a hunter safety class.  This teaches basic safe gun handling while not using live firearms.  This is not only a valuable class, but it also gives them the opportunity to get a hunting license when they reach the minimum age per state laws.  If you are also a hunter, or want to become one by taking the class with them, this can be a great bonding opportunity, and we have so few of those as they start growing into their teen years.

As they get into high school, possibly taking a publicly available gun safety class would be a great choice.  This can be anything from a one hour gun safety seminar all the way up to an eight hour firearms safety class.  These may or may not involve actual firearms or live fire on a range.  You may own guns already, but by taking the class alongside your teen you can show them that you also take safety seriously and don’t mind getting a refresher yourself.  They will appreciate your company, and respect your dedication towards safety.