While owning a gun is a great way to protect you and your loved ones, it can also have the complete opposite effect if not handled properly. Whether it’s in the hands of a home intruder or an unsupervised child, an unprotected firearm can quickly become a scary thing to deal with. That’s why understanding the importance of firearm safety is vital for all gun owners, new or old.
Who Can Cause a Firearm Injury?
We mentioned a few people who can use a gun inappropriately, but we wanted to go into more depth and give some additional examples. Children are, by far, the biggest culprits of unsafe firearm usage. If unsupervised, they can easily sneak into your room and steal your gun from its hiding place. Granted, most kids do this with no bad intentions, but some do. This is especially true with teen boys. They may think it’s cool to hold and play around with a gun but don’t realize how severe the consequences could be if it were to go off.
Home intruders are another group of people who can easily steal your gun and use it against you. If you have your firearm on display, that’s easy-picking for someone who is looking to take everything you have. Even if your firearm is well hidden, the home robbery could have been planned by someone who knows you and where you store it. That’s why it’s never a good idea to reveal where you keep your gun to people you don’t trust.
The final person to watch out for is yourself and your family members, especially in situations where alcohol is present. Alcohol and guns do not mix well. When drunk, you are not in total control of your actions. Bringing out your firearm to show it to your friends while you’re inebriated could lead to you accidentally misfiring and injuring someone you care about.
What Can Be Done To Prevent It?
The best way to prevent accidents with firearms is not to leave the gun loaded. The main reason why people do leave the gun loaded is to ensure it is ready for use in the event that home defense is necessary. When an intruder is in your house, every second matters. What we’d recommend, however, is to keep a magazine loaded but leave it outside the gun.
Keeping your gun in a well-protected safe is another way to prevent someone from getting their hands on it. Some safes take time to open, which is why some gun owners avoid them altogether. However, there are many options that are easy to open for quick access. We have single gun safes available on our website that only have the important mechanisms of the gun covered. That way, you can open the safe while on the move.
Lastly, the best way to keep others safe around your firearm is to help them understand the importance of firearm safety as well. Be sure to take the time to teach your kids what to do if they see a gun. Leaving the area where the gun is located and immediately telling an adult is the safest thing they can do in most scenarios. If your children ever do need to hold a firearm, show them the proper way to do so and make sure they know never to point it at someone else, even if it’s unloaded.