Parents who teach their kids gun safety are also more likely to leave loaded guns out. Of the gun-owning parents, 47% said they taught their children firearm handling, nearly 37% had their children practice firearm handling under their supervision and over 37% taught their children how to shoot guns
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2823159?guestAccessKey=7930a951-ea18-47e1-a2c7-036ddf5cf7e4&utm_source=for_the_media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=090924#google_vignette
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Firearm injuries are the leading cause of death in kids and teens in the U.S., making gun safety a priority for many families. But new research has found that parents who teach their children proper firearm handling are also more likely to engage in dangerous gun safety practices in their own homes.
The research letter, which was published in JAMA Pediatrics, surveyed nearly 7,800 people, including 870 parents, across nine states with a range of gun ownership rates, firearm policies and gun violence rates. The survey included people who said they had at least one gun in or around their home and at least one child living at home.
Of the gun-owning parents, 47% said they taught their children proper firearm handling, nearly 37% had their children practice firearm handling under their supervision and over 37% taught their children how to shoot guns. But the researchers discovered that each of these actions by the parents was strongly linked with storing at least one gun unlocked and loaded at home.
[https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/parents-who-teach-their-kids-gun-safety-are-also-more-likely-to-leave-loaded-guns-out-study-150014079.html](https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/parents-who-teach-their-kids-gun-safety-are-also-more-likely-to-leave-loaded-guns-out-study-150014079.html)
This study shows that people who live in states or areas that are have a lot of guns has resulted in more gun related deaths.
I live in the Oakland, CA. There are guns everywhere. My girlfriend’s car caught a stray recently, a student got paralyzed from the neck down recently (also a stray). I regularly hear gunshots. Some clearly from weapons that aren’t legal for anyone here.
You’ll find a lot more guns and gun related deaths where there is more gun violence no matter what. Parents teaching gun safety are likely doing so for a reason. That’s what I see from those stats.
Not a good fact, but it’s not good to present stats in a way that is misleading.
It seems that lots of people think that teaching a child to shoot a gun somehow makes them responsible enough to be around unsecured guns. This is obviously wrong: a child doesn’t become more responsible just because you’ve taught them something. Children are impulsive and lack critical thinking skills, they will never be responsible enough to handle guns and should never be allowed access to unlocked firearms.
After every school shooting we have people that come out saying that the solution is to have gun safety courses in schools again. However, the school shooters always, without fail, have had some level of “training” in shooting from their family. It’s clear that knowing about guns is not the same as gun safety. It’s also clear that there are too many irresponsible gun owners who lack the ability to think critically (e.g. this small child who can’t remember to brush their teeth maybe shouldn’t be allowed to access a firearm).
This makes sense to me. There are a lot of households where the parents keep a gun for self defense only and always have it locked away and the children may not even know it exists. For parents who are teaching their kids gun safety are more likely to be teaching them because they’re bringing in guns as a hobby for their kids to take part in. They’re almost certainly going to be less likely to be locked all the time, as everyone knows about and is using these weapons regularly
TIL: Having guns at home increases the risk of getting accidentally shot by such guns.
TIL: Having an inground pool increases your chances of drowning at home.