Firearm Safety for the Family: Controlling Gun Access
Regardless of the politics surrounding the debate over firearms in America, statistics show that having a firearm in your home does increase your odds of gun-related injury or death. Further, over one-third of American households that contain a firearm also contain children. Because of this, if you choose to keep a firearm at home for self-defense, you must take some precautions to ensure that it is not wrongfully used against you, your family members, or another loved one.
Firearm Safety Tips
First, one of the best things you can do to protect your family is to properly store your firearms. Making it difficult for family members (particularly children) to access the firearm will make your home much safer. Children are naturally curious. Without the proper precautions, children may come across your firearm and hurt themselves or others. By children, we mean children as young as three years old, as three-year-olds have the power to pull a firearm trigger. It is also important to secure your firearms if you live with a family member who is depressed or who has mental health issues.
Therefore, the best thing you can do is properly secure your firearm. To do this, make sure to lock up your firearm in a secure place, whether that is a cabinet, safe, or gun vault. Ensure that the firearm is unloaded and lock your ammunition in a place that is separate from the firearm itself. After locking up your firearm and ammunition, hide the keys from others. BrickHouse Security also offers some gun safes to secure your weapons.
Next, it is important to have a discussion about firearm safety with your family—particularly your children. Sit down with your family and explain the danger of firearms. If they come across a firearm in your home, tell them to stop what they are doing, do not touch the firearm (even if it looks like a toy), leave the area where the firearm is, and to quickly tell an adult about what they found.
If you hunt with a child or teenager, you must still articulate the danger of firearms. Ensure that they understand to always be with a responsible adult when handling a firearm. It is also important to tell them to assume that every firearm they handle is loaded and that they should never point the firearm at another human.
Finally, consider gun safety training or additional safety features when purchasing your firearm. For example, many new firearms come with security that can make shooting virtually impossible. For example, you can purchase a firearm that contains a vise-like device that covers the trigger. You can also purchase a firearm containing a cable gun lock, which ultimately secures the trigger of your firearm.
If you have an older firearm that you want to secure, you can always purchase a trigger lock from a firearm retailer. Should you be confused about the process, you can also speak with local law enforcement to obtain a cable-style gun lock.
Training classes can help owners understand the best ways to handle, use, clean, and disable their weapon to ensure that they and others are safe.
Take Firearm Safety Seriously
Firearm safety is an extremely serious topic. If you have a firearm in your home and have not yet taken some of the safety precautions listed above, you must act quickly to secure your weapons and your family’s safety.
Whether this means purchasing a gun safe, buying a trigger lock, speaking with your family about gun safety, taking a gun safety class, or all of the above, taking these precautions today can protect your family members from an accident. Anyone would gladly accept the minor inconvenience now in exchange for peace of mind and confidence that their family is safe.
At BrickHouse Security, we are happy to help you secure your firearms. We offer a wide range of firearm security products, which you can findhere. If you have any questions about our products or firearm safety in general, you can contact us.