Firearm safety tips

Advice to Parents

The best way to keep your children safe from injury or death from guns is not to have a gun in the home.

• Do not purchase a gun, especially a handgun.
• Remove all guns present in the home.
• Talk to your children about the dangers of guns, and tell them to stay away from guns.
• Find out if there are guns in the homes where your children play. If so, talk to the adults in the house about the dangers of guns to their families.

For those who still keep a gun in the home.

• Always keep the gun unloaded and locked up.
• Lock and store bullets in a separate place.
• Use a trigger lock or "gun safe" designed to prevent unauthorized users from gaining access to the weapon.
• Make sure to hide the keys to the locked boxes.
• Remove guns from a home where depressed individuals or children can use them.
• Ask neighbors and relatives whether guns are kept in their homes and how they are stored if vulnerable members of your family might have access to them.