In a world where there are tragic headlines where children are shooting other children, or even their own parents on accident, it is necessary to know how to teach gun safety to your children.  As part of gun safety you need to make sure that you are teaching your children to play with guns the right way.

There are many useful tips that you can use to work with your children whether or not they are going to be exposed to real firearms. Even if you never have a gun in your home, your child could potentially come across a gun at some point.  If they are educated they will know how to handle the situation without anyone being harmed in the process.

Tips to Teach Your Child Gun Safety

1. Never point a gun at a person.  It does not matter if it is a toy or a real gun, never allow your child to point a gun at anyone else or themselves. Teaching a child to never point a gun at someone will give them the instinct to never point a real gun at someone if they happen to come across one.

2. Talk to your child about never picking up a gun even if they think that it is a toy before asking if they can play with it.  Sadly not everyone is going to be as smart with their guns as you would like and this is how accidents happen.  Make sure that you take the time to really encourage your children to never pick up a gun, even a toy without permission.

3. Act like every gun is loaded and dangerous.  Even if you do not think that gun is loaded it could still be so make sure and teach your child to act like every gun that they pick up is loaded and could hurt someone.

4. Remind your child never to be in a hurry when shooting a gun.  So many children can be seen running through the house, chasing one another with a toy gun.  This type of behavior might seem cute when it looks like they are play the old game of cops and robbers but if they accidentally picked up a real gun this could be devastating.

5. Teach children to yell “fire” before shooting.  This should give them the chance to warn others that might be in the area that they are going to shoot a gun.

6. Teach your child when to pull the trigger.  Even with play guns it is important to show your child how to hold the gun up and point at the target before pulling the trigger.  Many people think that it is silly and overly cautious to be so careful with a toy but in the end it is always better safe than sorry when it comes to gun safety.

7. Show your child how to point their gun at the ground when they are walking or waiting to “shoot”.  Be careful to teach them about not pointing the gun at your shoe because you could end up hurting yourself if this is the case.

8. Do not allow children to pull the trigger without being told to do so.  This might not seem like something that would be feasible when playing with toy guns in the house but it is another example of something that you can do to protect your future and to make things better if your child were to find a real gun.

9. Make sure that children know the importance of gun safety.  Talk to them about the consequences of not being safe with guns and remind them that they can protect themselves and others by being responsible when it comes to guns.

Many people think that it is extreme for parents to refuse to allow children to play with toy guns like regular toys.  The problem is that today guns represent a danger that is present in the world around us.  Keeping your children safe, even if that involves active play time when your child wants to play with guns, means that your child is going to be responsible with guns that they come into contact with.