What are some good ways to talk to children about the dangers of firearms?

groundbrandon: What are some good ways to talk to children about the dangers of firearms?
For law enforcement day I was given the opportunity to pass out firearms locks then talk to children on the dangers of firearms. I thought I be patrolling the mall to be honest. But, being a rookie I was assigned to help Harrold pass out gun locks to the parents to keep our children in the community safe from the dangers of an unlocked gun. We also had certificates to pass out to the kids after talking to them about the dangers of a firearm. After they promised to not touch the firearm they would sign this. I wasn’t expecting so many parents wanting me to discuss the dangers of firearms to their children. They also thanks me afterwards so I see the importance. Basically it seems that the children see the badge and like to hear it from an authoritative figure. I feel I did a pretty good job but I’m looking for ideas on how I can improve my discussions on firearm dangers. Thanks!
Thanks so much already I only had about 5 min. with each child

Answers and Views:

Answer by Stacy K
Inform the children on the dangers of firearms, then split them into groups, and ask them questions on what was said today and make a prize for the winning team. Kids will just eat it up!!

Good luck

Answer by jenn3365
BY saying owning a firearm is a big responsibility and many people take care the way they should.. those who do not will help us lose our rights to bare Arms.. I lost a cousin to a firearm accident.. his brother shot him in the head on an accident.. it will forever change every ones life. We can not bring back the people we lose but we can prevent it from happening.. We should teach the importance of not only locking guns.. but never to point or play with a gun. I think it is every ones responsibility to do this..

Answer by anaxlmedes
Expose them to it. Personally, If you fire a weapon with them…teach them the proper way to manage one…and take the “what if” factor away, because of this exposure. Also offer them an outlet, If they really want to play with guns, which is their right, give them information to a shooting range under supervision and safely. Then add a little shock factor in. Show them pictures and clips, of what happens when you play with guns or use them in an uncontrolled situation. It is like drinking and drugs. If youth has controlled access to it and experiences it under supervision later on in life the “waht if” factor will be lost, and more likely to not cause troubles in the future (FOR THE MOST PART).

Answer by Kaliki
Here’s a fun, messy idea! Not sure how much time you have to spend, but this gets the point across perfectly without violence.

Hand out cheap tubes of toothpaste and a sheet of paper. Ask every child to squeeze out all the tooth paste on their paper and only their paper. Now tell them to put the toothpaste BACK into the tube. Watch as they try. But they can’t. Tell them that firing a gun is the same way. Once the trigger is pulled, you can’t put the bullet back. Unlike toothpaste, that you have to work at to squeeze out of a tube, a gun takes little/no effort to pull and the effects can be much worse than a paper full of toothpaste.

Answer by ian s
show the dangers of a gun, possibly shoot yourself or better yet one of them in the foot.. garaunteed that will make them think before shooting another person…

for a more realistic approach just tell a story how guns have done something bad to a friend

Answer by PraiseBob
The NRA has a wonderful program known as “Eddy Eagle” intended for younger children. The basic message is:

Stop
Don’t Touch
Leave the area
Tell and Adult

I had the opportunity to talk to some younger cub scouts about gun safety. I contacted the folks who ran that program and they supplied me with some excellent teaching materials like workbooks, stickers, pencils, etc…

Here is a link:

https://www.nrahq.org/safety/eddie/

Answer by [email protected]
A good place to start is letting parents and kids know that guns are not toys, therefor no toy guns at home. Also encourage a gun safety or hunter safety class, they spend 3 evenings going over different guns, proper usage and how easy it is for accidents to happen. My 4 oldest have all taken it.

Answer by artlogical
I like to not stress the danger aspect. Danger can be intriguing to a child, and have the opposite effect on behavior. It’s important to stress that firearms are a machine that can be used for harm, but they are a machine none the less, and when handled by a trained, safe individual. They are not toys, and should not be touched by anyone not certified by NRA (or similar – military, local authorities training course, etc.)

Stress gun safety, not gun dangers. Explain that it’s who holds the gun that makes all the difference. Explain the dangers of bad people, how to identify them, and how not to take chances if you can’t identify them.

Answer by fanta
guns don’t kill it is the people that pull the trigger.i was brought up on a farm in Australia and guns where away of life for me.my dad kept the gun locked up the ammo on his cubed and the bolt in the shed.asked the kids to write an essay as to why they think they are dangers

Answer by eviltruitt
Really, instead of just telling kids not to touch them, they should be educated about their use and about gun safety. My father was a hunter and gun collector, and me and my siblings all received our first .22 rifle when we were about 11. We were educated so well by our father that guns never held any mystery for us. We never had to sneek a peek and a gun, I just asked my dad, and we went to the range to shoot.

The commercials they play on TV, the ones where the kid shows his friend his dad’s gun and acidentally shoots him, were completely alien to me. It could never have happened in our house, because we were so familliar with them. The gun that he keeps for home protection in his sock drawer, while it wasn’t loaded, the clip was kept next to it. A trigger lock wasn’t necessary, we knew it was there and what it was for. We had no need to touch it, because there was no mystery.

Really, What would help more is for parents that own guns to educate their kids about gun safety and how to handle them. Kids are only interested in things that hold mystery for them, if you dispell the mystery, you dispell the majority of the danger.