Childproofing Your Home with Guns Around
When my wife and I realized we were going to have a child I had to come to grips with the idea that things were going to change. And boy did they ever. That first year my son crawled around I was relatively safe or so I thought. I always kept my guns locked up in my safe with the exception of my personal defense gun which was secure, but where I could still get it in a hurry. Fast forward to today and I now have a toddler who prefers to run everywhere. His fingers are also now nimbler than a jewel thief’s, so it came time to rethink my policy about keeping not only my guns but anything even gun related out of reach of ten sticky fingers.
It should go without saying that if you have guns in the house and very young children that they should be kept locked up in a sturdy container (like a safe) and the key secured out of reach of anybody but yourself, but I’ll say it anyway. And understanding how a child could hurt themselves with your guns can a go a long way to preventing them from hurting themselves with your guns.
Guns
A good many of the tragic shootings involving young children are in fact self-inflicted and this is because a toddler’s thumbs are stronger than their other fingers. What happens is this: the child cannot pull the trigger easily, so they turn the gun around with the barrel facing towards them in order to use both thumbs. This is something that should never happen and which often gets left out of the newspaper story. Instant access trigger locks like those from Pro-Lok can prevent such a thing from ever occurring and their immediate unlock feature is a good compromise for folks who still want that nightstand gun at the ready.
Simply keeping the guns secured at home works just as well too, but it’s important that you’re committed to this thinking. You’re a parent now and as long as you’re kids are too young to protect themselves it is your duty to do it for them. The best way to get in the swing of this is to make securing your firearms the standard protocol in your house—for the next twelve or so years, whenever you take your guns out to play, put them back in their toy chest afterwards.
Ammo
Ammunition is another thing that should be kept out of reach of children and this is especially important because it’s something I’ve noticed many folks take more of a cavalier attitude towards when it comes to just leaving it lying around the house. The last thing that you want to find is a kid playing on the floor with a box of loaded rounds, and believe me I have actually heard of this happening. Toddlers like to put just about anything in their mouths, bullets can look a lot like candy to them and it doesn’t take much for small throats to choke. Older children may be inclined to experiment with live cartridges, increasing the unlikely chance of primer ignition. Those watertight marine boxes sold at the local sporting goods stores work well and they can also be locked—something like this is basically where you should be storing your ammo anyways.
Cleaning Supplies
While much is made about securing guns and ammunition, we rarely hear mention of safety when it comes to your gun cleaning supplies. This stuff has just as much if not more of a chance of killing little kids than a gun and cleaning solvents like Hoppes will, in the best case scenario, make a child violently ill if they ingest some. Like with my ammo, I also use a lockable toolbox for all of my cleaning supplies and I suggest you use the same.
For added security, keep this box clean, throwing away any used rags, and swiping down any instruments after use to remove any residual lead or excess solvents. Everything else in the this box should be kept in tightly sealed containers.
So keep your little ones protected by keeping your guns and all of the supplies out of reach. Nothing is more heart wrenching to hear a life was lost in a way that could have been easily prevented, and nothing is more heart warming than to hear the laughter and see the smile of a small child. Keep them safe—the future of hunting and shooting depends on it.
It should go without saying that if you have guns in the house and very young children that they should be kept locked up in a sturdy container (like a safe) and the key secured out of reach of anybody but yourself, but I’ll say it anyway. And understanding how a child could hurt themselves with your guns can a go a long way to preventing them from hurting themselves with your guns.
Guns
A good many of the tragic shootings involving young children are in fact self-inflicted and this is because a toddler’s thumbs are stronger than their other fingers. What happens is this: the child cannot pull the trigger easily, so they turn the gun around with the barrel facing towards them in order to use both thumbs. This is something that should never happen and which often gets left out of the newspaper story. Instant access trigger locks like those from Pro-Lok can prevent such a thing from ever occurring and their immediate unlock feature is a good compromise for folks who still want that nightstand gun at the ready.
Simply keeping the guns secured at home works just as well too, but it’s important that you’re committed to this thinking. You’re a parent now and as long as you’re kids are too young to protect themselves it is your duty to do it for them. The best way to get in the swing of this is to make securing your firearms the standard protocol in your house—for the next twelve or so years, whenever you take your guns out to play, put them back in their toy chest afterwards.
Ammo
Ammunition is another thing that should be kept out of reach of children and this is especially important because it’s something I’ve noticed many folks take more of a cavalier attitude towards when it comes to just leaving it lying around the house. The last thing that you want to find is a kid playing on the floor with a box of loaded rounds, and believe me I have actually heard of this happening. Toddlers like to put just about anything in their mouths, bullets can look a lot like candy to them and it doesn’t take much for small throats to choke. Older children may be inclined to experiment with live cartridges, increasing the unlikely chance of primer ignition. Those watertight marine boxes sold at the local sporting goods stores work well and they can also be locked—something like this is basically where you should be storing your ammo anyways.
Cleaning Supplies
While much is made about securing guns and ammunition, we rarely hear mention of safety when it comes to your gun cleaning supplies. This stuff has just as much if not more of a chance of killing little kids than a gun and cleaning solvents like Hoppes will, in the best case scenario, make a child violently ill if they ingest some. Like with my ammo, I also use a lockable toolbox for all of my cleaning supplies and I suggest you use the same.
For added security, keep this box clean, throwing away any used rags, and swiping down any instruments after use to remove any residual lead or excess solvents. Everything else in the this box should be kept in tightly sealed containers.
So keep your little ones protected by keeping your guns and all of the supplies out of reach. Nothing is more heart wrenching to hear a life was lost in a way that could have been easily prevented, and nothing is more heart warming than to hear the laughter and see the smile of a small child. Keep them safe—the future of hunting and shooting depends on it.
MOST POPULAR ARTICLES
EDITOR'S PICKS
05.15.2012
News & Articles |
Affiliates
|
|
|
Biggest concern for me when I started having children. My basic rules were: Educate them with the basic rules of firearms, very early. Most kids play with guns because they see them on TV and they are curious. My kids were exposed very early as I would break my firearms down on a special blanket in the living room to clean. They would watch, we would talk and they were taught to NEVER handle them until they earned the priviledge. It worked! They even learned the importance of cleaning and caring for the gun. They passed that test. When old enough, I took them to the range and showed them in practice what I had always told them. They did GREAT! They also never felt afraid of the gun, but cautiuos and aware of the damage a mis-handled gun could cause. They also felt like it was a priviledge they earned. My daughter did very well and actually wanted to learn how to shoot. My son is now old enough to hunt this year and I am excited.
As for the home, since I know kids will be kids and curious by nature, I have three gun safes and they are in a hidden room in my home. The kids know where the hidden room is, but ALL of my guns except the one I carry, are locked in them. These are not 10 gauge cabinets either, they are 800 lbs, 1400 degree fireproof, bolted to the floor and wall models. Although I know my kids understand the basic firearms safety rules, I can't speak to the friends they bring over............so it is all locked up. To get to my carry weapon, they would have to get through me! I think any responsible gun owner needs to secure their weapons whether they own only one or 100. You don't have to buy a $1400 fire safe, but secure it with a smaller hand safe or really good locks (trigger or cable). This has worked for me, Just my two cents.
Too many gun owning parents don't tell their children that they have firearms in the house and that's when accidents happen as these children may not be able to differentiate between a real gun, bb gun or toy gun for that matter (since toy guns today resemble the real thing). Sure you can hide gun ownership from your children but there is that one time...when you put it down for whatever reason and during that long or short time period a child can pick the firearm up...and you know the outcome. You might be saying, "I always know where my firearm(s) are and my children will never gain access"....We have all had a moment, at least once in our lives, where we set a firearm down unsupervised (for whatever reason). It just happens. Exposing you children to firearms at an early age takes the edge off of curiosity.....Just my $.02
Love your comment gator! Early child education on handling and safety of guns is critical. Not only is it the start of teaching gun fundamentals, but more importantly it satisfies the natural curiosity! My kids could all safely unload a handgun by age 8. Now they are all teenagers and have gone through DNR gun safety but I still wouldn't trust any of them or their friends enough to leave my guns unlocked.
The mention of ammo is crucial here. Quick story. I was not raised around guns. My father had a Remington Speedmaster .22 that never seen the light of day. He kept his ammo next to his change dish in his top dresser drawer. Being the kids we were... the ice cream truck drives by and we know just where to get some spare change... and bullets. Long story short, we used to throw them on the ground as hard as we could to get them to go off. Unlikely? Sure, Scarey? hell yeah. Especially if kid is doing it. We even went so far as to try the tape a bullet to a claw hammer trick like in the movies. Lucky for us, they never did go off. Moral of the story... LOCK UP YOUR DAMN AMMO!