Every year in Iowa, children are accidently injured or killed with firearms. The horror of mass shootings has received much-deserved attention, but this is not the way most children are injured by guns.
Statistically, most children under age 5 who are killed with a firearm are related to the shooter, usually a parent, sibling or other family member. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, in half the cases in which children die from unintentional gun-related injuries, they were shot by someone playing with a gun.
There is a two-pronged approach to preventing injury and death of children by firearms: Gun owners must first prevent children’s access to firearms and then teach children to respect weapons.
Preventing Access: Children are curious and learn by imitating what they see. Guns of all kinds should be stored in a locked container in order to prevent curious little hands from picking up a firearm.
According to the Children’s Safety Network, the average 5-year-old is strong enough to pull the trigger of a handgun. Additionally, although 75 percent of children ages 5 to 14 knew where firearms were hidden in their home, only 39 percent of their parents realized their children were aware of the hiding place.
Teaching to Respect Weapons: Kids up to age 14 lack the impulse control needed to resist handling a gun they find. Behavioral skills training is a specific type of teaching, and more effective than simply preaching to not play with guns.
The National Rifle Association has a program called Eddie Eagle that teaches children to Stop! Don’t touch! Run away! and Tell a grown-up! if they encounter a gun. But this curriculum has had limited success in real-life situations for youngsters who come across a firearm.
A program with a better track record of transferring over to real life situations is the Good Behavior Game, which began as a classroom behavior management program to encourage students to stay on task. The basic principles of the Good Behavior Game can be applied to gun safety, with a high rate of success in stifling a child’s impulse to pick up and play with a found weapon.
If you are a gun owner, you will want to consider whether you could make any changes to the storage of your firearms in order to keep the children you love a little safer.
Ann Cochran is the health navigation coordinator in the Dallas County Public Health Department.
