advertisement

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Gun Safety: Young Children Will Play With Guns No Matter What

On Friday, February 1st, Tmorej Smith died. He was three years old, and he lived in South Carolina. While his grandparents watched television in another room, he and his seven year-old sister were playing with their mother's handgun. Tmorej was shot in the head and quickly died. Police reports are not clear at the current time as to whether he shot himself or whether his sister shot him. But, his sister told family and police they thought the gun was a toy.


Here is what the gun looked like:

Does this gun look real to you? It looks like a toy to the average seven year-old

Tmorej's story is tragic, but not uncommon. According to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, over 100 children die of accidental gunshot wounds every year, and another 3000 or so receive nonfatal gunshot wounds.

The psychological research is fairly clear as to why this is: If they have access to them, kids will play with guns.

Let me state that again: If there is a gun in your house that your kids can access, they will play with it.

One more time, in a slightly different way: If you have an unsecured gun in your home, your kids have most likely found it and have already played with it.

Kids, especially young ones, have difficulty distinguishing real guns from toy guns, and for some reason, children are drawn to playing with guns like magnets. When you add a pretty, small, unusually colored gun to the mix, it becomes irresistible. If they can get their hands on it, kids will play with it. Some of them will shoot themselves or their siblings accidentally as a result.

An interesting catch in this research is that gun safety classes appear to mitigate some of the risks associated with children and access to guns. Especially as they age, children learn from gun safety classes and understand that guns are not to be touched or played with when adults are not present. The best gun safety classes are the ones that teach children to handle actual firearms during the class.

But, there is another catch: These gun safety classes do not work on younger children. Up to the age of seven or eight, kids will still play with guns if they are available, even if they have been exposed to extensive gun safety classes.

These findings indicate the best way to keep your children safe if you have guns in the home is to keep them locked in a safe and unloaded. Ammunition should also be locked, ideally in a separated space from the firearms.

I have heard parents say locking up firearms and keeping them unloaded defeats the purpose of home safety. If a bad guy breaks into your house, you need that loaded gun immediately. It takes too long to unlock it, unlock the ammunition, load the gun, and then confront the intruder.

All of that is true. But it is important to keep in mind that one of your young children is much more likely to kill you or one of your loved ones with an easily accesible, loaded gun than an intruder is. If your goal is to maximize your family's chances of living, your best bet is to lock up that gun.

I feel terribly for Tmorej and his entire family. No three year-old deserves to die, and no seven year-old deserves to live the rest of her life with that horrible memory. No family deserves to endure the grief I am sure they are feeling. My heart goes out to them, and to the families of the other children who have died in accidental shootings already this year. I only hope parents who are responsible gun owners will take the simple steps needed to prevent such an awful tragedy from befalling their family.

Thanks for reading-- Max Wachtel, Ph.D.
www.CherryCreekPsychology.com
www.Facebook.com/drmaxwachtel
www.Twitter.com/mwachtel
www.YouTube.com/drmaxwachtel



13 comments:

The goods makes currently being visually-challenged glimpse incredibly sophisticated seeing that hublot replica possesses simply just enhanced it is model imaginative and prescient vision to its remarkable specs progressively. Most of these simple supports can also be easily obtainable in whole rims, 1 / 2 rims, or perhaps rimless forms in addition to moderate colorings including black color, sterling silver, in addition to brown leafy. In contrast, people that need bolder replica chanel handbags can offer with a lot of the brand's excessive vogue portions, consisting of outsized or maybe aviator-style supports which will required specific either a cultured or maybe hipster identity. Clutches within the swiss replica omega watches likewise contain a a number of the len's possibilities. Old populations exactly who purely need to have fake gucci bags having little chores including examining can certainly exploit examining upgraded lenses. While almost all consumers are massive fans on the typical bunch of specs, this model will probably keep spellbind shoppers to help it is eye protection conventions by means of invigorating it is typical types having wonderful fake gucci bags intended for a lot more variable in addition to current overall appeal.

Amazing post, thanks a lot for sharing this great information about young children and guns. Recently I have found great information abouttop resume editing companies and was impressed by the variety of useful tips.

Thanks for the best blog.it was very useful for me.keep sharing such ideas in the future as well.this was actually what i was looking for,and i am glad to came here!
slitherio | cubefield | red ball 6 | age of war | five nights at freddys 4 | five nights at freddys 4 | five nights at freddys |plants vs zombies | gold strike

I must appreciate the way you have expressed your feelingsthrough your blog!..run 3 | Click jogos

Love to a niggling who then broke up, slamming you get on really great. The specter of a bad relationship that will follow you the rest of your life, make you very difficult to love someone else more.
b612 , run 3 , geometry dash 2.0 , baixar snapchat , download musicas

I really enjoyed reading this article. You've done a fantastic job writing this and you've made sure that everyone enjoys reading this. And that is one of the main things why you are my favorite writer. hobo 8 - dead paradise 3 - pokemon emerald online - swords and sandals 2 hacked - naruto 2.7 - mighty knight 2 hacked - talking tom cat games - wormate.io oyna

The ice cream game continues with the new version of the adventure. Bad Ice Cream 4 with new map model and new sections awaits you. Bad Ice Cream 4 continues the new stille entertainment and adventure from the classic game style. Try Bad Ice Cream 4 before you lose time! Have fun.

Thanks for this article very helpful. thanks. site

That person is your true love, he is also very promiscuous

Post a Comment

Share

Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More