Self-defense is a very big part of my family’s life. My husband is in law enforcement and keeping our family safe is extremely important to us.
There is a lot of debate about gun control right now, but I am not going to get into that here. Owning a gun is your right and your choice. If your family makes that choice, it needs to be an safe and educated choice! BurritoBuzz is not taking a stance on your gun rights. This is merely an informational article.
I am personally not an expert. These safety tips are just from my family’s safety practices, years of education and experiences.
Twelve steps to safely have a gun in your home.
- Always use a safe. Your safe should be specifically made for guns and it should only hold guns, you should have a completely different safe for personal belongings. Even if the kids know there are guns in the home, they shouldn’t know where the safe is or have any type of access to it even if they are within age of teaching gun safety. There should always be parental supervision even when teaching.
Gunvault GV1000S Mini Vault Standard Gun Safe This is a simple hand gun safe that we have. I really like it for two reasons. One, you can bolt it anywhere you want to conceal it and two, you don’t have to fumble around for keys. (There is a key provided, but not necessary to open) - Learn how to properly handle a firearm. Whether you take a CCW class or a small class at your local range, you need to learn about your personal gun to ensure proper safety and use make sure you are knowledgeable in your specific firearm.
- Practice. You have a gun for emergencies. It is not going to do you any good if you don’t know how to handle it properly. I’m not saying you have to go to the range every weekend, but you should go at least once or twice so you feel comfortable having it in your home and now how to properly handle it.
- Ease of access. The gun needs to be secured in a hidden safe but somewhere where you can get to it easily.
- Teach everyone in your home about firearm safety. Read up on Project child safe and get here their free firearm safety kit!
- Always unload and clean your gun after every use. Any firearm should also be cleaned on a regular basis even, when not in use, to keep it clean from dust and to prevent any rust.
- All guns should be treated as if they were loaded. When not actually in use, remember to point it in a safe direction and be sure it is unloaded.
- Keep your finger off the trigger.
- Always keep your safety in place.
- Your children and “Gun play”. It is a very real activity. Even if you don’t have any play guns in your own home, be sure to teach your children the difference between toy guns and real guns, because they may encounter “gun play” when you’re not around.
- Talk to your children at a young age about gun safety. Teach them to do the following if they see a gun: “Stop. Don’t Touch. Find an adult to tell.” My husband carries a gun on him at times and my two year old knows not to touch it when it’s attached to daddy (or ever for that matter). Even if you aren’t going to have your gun around your children, please teach them those three steps. It is a simple lesson and it may save a life.
- Check state and local laws for storage, transport, and securing requirements. Here is a great overview.
As parents, we are always worrying about our children. We are always worrying if we are doing the right or wrong thing for them. No matter how you do it, I can assure you that if you are taking steps to protect them, you are doing the right thing no matter how you choose to do protect them. If you choose to have a gun in your home, please do it safely! Guns are not toys or collectables. I will be sure to post more about gun safety at the end of this post. The more you educate yourself about this topic, the safer you and your family will be!
– Amanda
Perfectly Imperfect Parenting 