Gun Safety for Preschoolers

Gun ownership is on the rise....

especially here in  Cowboy Country!

So, even if your family is one

that does not own a gun

or endorse gun ownership,

it would still be a good idea to

educate your kids

about guns

and gun safety!

Grace knows the basics.

 

3 Rules

 

#1: Treat every gun as if it were loaded.

#2: Always keep a gun pointed in a safe direction.

#3: Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.

 

I've taught her these and will work to reinforce them

from time to time, but the most important thing

I want her to know is that if she sees a gun,

she is not to touch it. She needs to tell an adult

RIGHT AWAY! Don't wait, because waiting could

allow the gun to get into the wrong hands.

The adult needs to put the gun away and out

of reach of little ones.

 

But - it's one thing to know what to do,

and quite another thing to do it!

So, we've been practicing.

 

For practicing, I bought this BB Gun.

It has to have BB's and CO2 to make it work

and I don't have those available, so it's perfectly

safe to use as a "dummy gun".

It also looks very, very real!

When Grace was her last I left it on the

ottoman we use to store DVD's in.

Right out where I knew she would see it!

When she spotted it she jumped back, threw her

hands in the air and yelled, "GUN!"

She didn't touch it. She did exactly what

she was supposed to do and grabbed her

baby sister and held her back until I could get

the gun and get it put away.

THEN - she got a prise from the prize box,

for doing the right thing!



She chose a Memory Game!

And she wanted to play it right away!

So we played game after game

and she beat me time after time!

She took a picture of me, losing!

And I took a picture of her jumping

up and down from the excitement

of a win!

(this kid loves to WIN!)

But really, I feel like a winner, anyway!

My sweet little grand daughter is

a little more prepared to keep

herself safe in the future.

And for those of you who don't like

guns at all - think of it like this.

Few of us like fires,

yet we do fire drills.

We practice getting out of

the house although we never

really expect to become the victims

of a fire. We prepare.

It's pretty much the same thing.

I don't expect anyone to leave a loaded

gun within reach of a child.

But accidents happen.

We all have careless moments.

And a child is way more likely to be exposed

to a loaded gun than they are a fire.