Gun Safety

In 1976, 59% of juvenile homicide offenders killed with a gun. By 1991, this figure had grown to 78%. Despite federal regulations, 34% of students reported easy access to handguns and 6.4% reported owning a handgun. According to a recent report issued by the Department of Education, over 6,000 students were expelled in 1996-97 for bringing guns to school. As of 1993, fatal gunshot wounds replaced vehicular accidents as the most common cause of death for children – every day in America guns kill 16 kids aged 19 and under. Guns killed twice as many Americans in the three years between 1992-94 as were killed in battle during the eight and a half years of the Vietnam War. According to the FBI, there were 10,744 firearm murders in the U.S. in 1996, over 700 of them perpetrated by offenders under the age of 18.

• If you keep a gun in your house, lock it out of the reach of children. Store it unloaded with the safety on.
• Keep ammunition locked away in another location.
• Teach children that guns are not toys.
• Stress that guns used on television are not real. The players are actors. If real people get shot they die or are badly injured.
• Teach your children what to do if they see a gun: stop; don’t touch; leave the area; tell an adult.