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Firearm Injury Prevention

Firearm Injury Prevention

Whether you have an infant or a teenager, keeping a gun at home poses a very real danger to your family. As a parent, you are already familiar with safety measures such as seat belts, bicycle helmets, and locking up medicines and poisons. Take easy measures now to also reduce the risk of gun injury at home.

Did You Know?:

An overwhelming number of parents believe that their children can tell the difference between real and toy guns, and that their children would not play with a real gun they found. However, studies have consistently shown that not only will most children play with a gun that they find, many will even pull the trigger. Children as young as 3 years can be strong enough to pull a trigger.

Just talking to your child about the dangers of firearms is therefore not enough. A child’s natural curiosity about a gun will overwhelm any safety lesson learned about the danger of a gun. Hiding guns is simply not enough. If a gun is accessible in a home, there is a good chance a child will find it and play with it. There are countless tragic stories of kids finding guns parents thought were well-hidden.

What Can You Do?:

Firearm injury prevention is one of the most important responsibilities of gun owners and of those who care for children. Please contact your local police department or your child’s physician if more information about firearm injury prevention is needed. Thank you for considering this very important subject.

Dr. Todd