Teaching gun safety for kids is important if kids will be visiting your home, your kids will be visiting another gun owner’s home, or even if you don’t own guns at all. Our Second Amendment rights guarantee us the freedom to keep and bear arms, but not every gun owner fulfills their responsibility to maintain them safely. Teaching kids age-appropriate gun safety rules gives them the information they need to make safer decisions when they’re at home, out with their friends, or alone. Safety is a focus of every Midwest Arms Collector Gun Show, and we want to help you talk to the next generation about safely enjoying a uniquely American tradition.
This may seem a little odd coming from a gun show promoter, but gun safety for kids is important enough that we want to acknowledge some people just aren’t comfortable with guns, don’t want them in their homes, and never want their kids around them. If you’re here, though, you realize that ignoring guns won’t keep your kids safe if they encounter one. The basic gun rules we’re going to share don’t require you to have a gun. If you know someone you trust who’s a gun owner, visual instruction can help some learners while also maintaining your boundaries.
Before you begin teaching gun safety for kids, make sure you’re putting it into practice yourself. Above all, kids are mental sponges. They are geared for learning from the time they’re born, and they see everything. They also have a habit of picking up the bad habits their parents have despite the good information they’re sometimes given. After all, who doesn’t remember, “I learned it by watching you!” from PSA ads when they were a kid? It’s still true today. Use, maintain, and store your guns safely, and you’ll be living the lesson they’ll remember the best.
When you’re teaching gun safety rules, not every kid will be ready for every lesson at the same time. As the parent or caregiver, you have to honestly assess their maturity level and cognitive ability when deciding how to approach a lesson. Kids are curious, and a younger kid can have a very different ability to grasp concepts, dangers, and limitations than a teenager who’s preparing for adulthood. Make sure you’re talking to children about gun safety for kids in a way that satisfies their curiosity, engages their brains, and promotes better retention and decision-making.
This may be the most important rule you can convey because it sets the groundwork for kids’ gun safety and everything to follow. Guns aren’t playthings. They’re dangerous tools that require maturity and training. Despite what they may have seen online, in movies, on their favorite shows, or in comic books, guns are meant to be used responsibly by adults who know and understand how to do so properly within the proper context.
This is a core tenet of gun safety at any age. Treat every gun you encounter as if you know it’s loaded. This helps prevent accidents at the range, while cleaning firearms, and even when a child just happens to see a firearm on the street or in the home. That means every gun is dangerous and should not be handled or approached. Which leads us to…
Get away from it. Whether they find a gun left on the street, see one on a bedside table at their friend’s house, or a classmate brings it to school for show and tell, leave that gun alone. Don’t touch it. Don’t examine it. Don’t check if it’s loaded. Don’t even pick it up so someone else doesn’t. Leave guns alone.
Immediately get a responsible adult’s attention. It can be a parent or caregiver, but it doesn’t have to be if one isn’t nearby. They should find the closest adult or authority figure and make themselves heard. That can be a storekeeper, a janitor, a resource officer, a property owner, or anyone they feel safe approaching. The important thing is that they get away from the gun and tell an adult immediately.
Kids need to understand, whether you plan on teaching them to shoot or are just teaching gun safety for kids as a precaution, that you never point a gun at anything you don’t intend to shoot. Since every gun is considered loaded, that means pointing it is placing that person or thing in danger. It’s not a joke, a prank, or a game. It is deadly serious.
Your children need to know they can come to you for real talk about firearms. That includes questions about gun safety rules, admitting to bad decisions, and letting you know when they’re worried. Sometimes, these conversations will be tough. Other times, you’ll be angry, or they’ll be scared. Your bond with your kids is their best defense against making life-altering bad decisions, so keep those lines of communication open and flowing.
Mishandling firearms can put your child in danger, but it also puts those around them in jeopardy. As part of your gun safety for kids training, work with them on following the commands of police and other adults when it relates to guns, including toy guns, air pistols, and paintball guns. This includes both information (Show us where you saw the gun) and instructions (Place the weapon on the ground and back towards us with your hands up). This important lesson can help prevent miscommunications and misunderstandings from becoming tragedies.
Whether you’re a gun owner or a gun no-er, giving kids a chance to see and talk to firearms professionals in a safe environment can help them understand the lessons you teach them. Your local gun show has both. Paid security is onsite to ensure everyone’s safety, and all guns are checked and tied at the door to ensure they’re unloaded. Vendors and many attendees are subject matter experts on a range of guns, and local trainers and civic groups frequently have tables run by pillars of the local Second Amendment community.
Take your gun safety for kids lessons to the next level with a trip to your local gun show. Check our gun show calendar, circle the date, and get ready for a weekend of family-friendly fun. Order your tickets to the next MAC Shows Gun Show near you online today.
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