Gun Safety
About 35 percent of U.S. homes have at least one gun. Nearly all unintentional childhood shooting deaths occur in or around the home — either in the gun owner’s home or a friend’s home. To ensure the safest environment for your children and family, do not keep a gun in your home.
Gun safety tips
If you must keep a gun at home, please follow these safety tips
- Always store a gun unloaded.
- Lock up bullets and guns in separate places, and hide the keys or combination.
- Store keys for the gun and the ammunition in a different area from where you store household keys. Keep the keys out of reach of children.
- Lock up gun-cleaning supplies, which are often poisonous.
- Before your child goes to a friend’s home to play, ask the other parents if there is a gun in their home. If so, ask how and where it is stored.
- Always practice gun safety. Emphasize to children that guns are not toys, and that they should never play with them.
- Never keep a gun in the home if someone in your household has a history of depression or threatens suicide.
Teach your child what to do if he encounters a gun
- Move away and stay away from the gun — it is dangerous
- Never touch or play with a gun
- Tell an adult immediately if you see a gun
How to use gun locks and lock boxes
Watch this video demonstrating how to use gun locks and lock boxes to secure various types of firearms.
Download our gun safety flyer
Our gun safety flyer is available for download in multiple languages: