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Originally Posted On: https://www.texasgunclub.com/how-to-teach-your-child-about-gun-safety/

 

Whether you have guns in your home or otherwise, you would be wise to teach your children about gun safety. After all, your children are bound to come across guns at some point or another and, due to the potentially dangerous nature of guns, you want your children to know how to handle them properly.

That’s where this article comes in. Below, we’re going to discuss the specifics of teaching a child gun and weapon safety, helping you be a guide to your children throughout the years. Let’s get into it.

Have Guns Around Your Child from an Early Age

Our first piece of advice is to have guns around your child from an early age. Don’t hide your guns away in a safe or closet. Bring your guns around your children so that they can see them as normal and not novelties.

Clean your guns in front of your children. Tell your children about your guns and how they work. Make guns a part of their everyday lives.

Now, this might sound scary at first. However, in doing this, you’re introducing your children to guns in a completely controlled environment. The alternative is to let your children discover guns on their own, in which case, they might end up making a tragic mistake.

So, don’t be afraid to get your guns out. The more that your children are around them, the less curious they’ll be about them and the more responsibly they’ll handle them when on their own.

Give Your Child Toy Guns

Another way that you can teach your child about guns is by giving them toy guns. At a young age, you can start with plastic water guns and the like. This will help them get used to holding them.

Then, they can move on up to bb guns, paintball guns, and pellet guns. These behave in the same general way as actual guns and will enable your child to practice shooting in a safe manner.

From there, they can move on to legitimate rifles and firearms. At this point, they’ll have established enough comfort with toy guns so as to handle these guns with responsibility.

Practice Gun Safety Yourself

Children model their behavior on their parent’s behavior. Therefore, they’ll, more or less, do what they see you do. If they see you handling guns irresponsibly, they likely will as well; if they see you handling guns responsibly, they probably will too.

Therefore, it’s imperative that you practice gun safety yourself. Store your gun in a safe after each use. Provide your guns with proper maintenance. Keep your gun pointed away from others while you’re holding it.

Demonstrate the safety basics of guns on a regular basis and your child will pick up your habits without thinking about it. Gun safety will be something that’s inherent to them as they grow older.

Have Your Child Practice Shooting

Another thing you need to do to promote the rules of weapon safety in your child is to have them practice shooting. Physically put a gun in their hands and have them shoot at targets.

You can do this on a hunting trip or at a shooting range. However, regardless of where you’re doing it, you should actively be guiding your child every step of the way. In fact, for the first few times that you do this, it’s probably best that you leave your gun at home; this way, you can focus solely on your child’s use of the gun.

Show your child to use the safety lock when the gun’s not in use. Tell them how to point the gun when they’re not aiming it at something. Have them practice proper grip. Show them how to load and unload ammunition.

Take them through each step of the process and have them practice it themselves. Most people learn by actually doing things, not just listening to instructions. Your child is probably no exception to this and is sure to benefit greatly from such practice.

Talk About the Impact That Guns Can Have

Guns are deadly weapons. If handled incorrectly, they could incidentally kill or maim someone. Your kids need to know this, as it will alert them to just how important gun safety is.

You might show them the effect that a bullet has on an animal. When they’re a little older, you might also consider showing them the effect it has on a person.

Alert them to stories in the news about people being shot. This includes not only stories about purposeful shootings but accidental ones as well.

In short, drive the point home: guns have the potential to be extremely dangerous, and, if not handled with the proper safety and care, they can lead to tragedy.

Enroll Your Child in a Safety Course

Our last tip is to enroll your child in a gun safety course. This course will take them past gun safety basics and will instill in them the importance of gun safety overall. Not only will it help them to be safer around guns but to feel more comfortable around guns as well.

You can find gun safety courses all over. They’re often offered by gun clubs. Gun shops offer them from time to time as well.

Your best bet is to Google something to the effect of “gun safety course for kids”. This will lead you to a number of options, including facilities in your area. If you’re in the Houston area, The Texas Gun Club has you covered.

Sign Up for Our Gun and Weapon Safety Course

Are you interested in signing up for a gun and weapon safety course? Are you in the Houston area? If so, you should consider a course here at the Texas Gun Club.

Our Firearms University offers a wide variety of gun courses, from safety courses to training courses and more. Check out our selection of courses right now!