Originally appeared in Newsletter Vol. 6, No. 2, Spring 2000

A new study which underscores the need to make more adults aware that firearms are accessible to many children, found that one-third of U.S. homes with children have at least one firearm and nearly half of them keep the weapons unsecured, according to UCLA pediatrician, Dr. Mark A Schuster, lead author of the study. Further, "a total of about 13% of (U.S.) homes -- about 1.4 million homes with about 2.6 million children -- had firearms stored in a manner most accessible to children." Just 39% of homes with firearms had them locked, unloaded and stored separately from ammunition. Researchers at Rand and UCLA released a study in the April issue of the American Journal of Public Health. The study used information from interviews administered by the National Center for Health Statistics that included a total of 64,809 households.

KIDS AND GUNS: WHAT PARENTS CAN DO
(source: Newsweek magazine, March 2000)

Talk to your children about guns and violence. Explain that weapons are not toys and that kids should never play with them. Tell your kids that if they see an unlocked gun in a friend's house, they should stay away from it and inform you about it immediately.

(A 20/20 video "A World Full of Guns" warns that this does not work with children; CAGV will show this video to your organization. Please call 564-6803 and request information. )

If you have a gun in your home, unload it and lock it away; store the bullets in a separate place, also under lock and key. Hide the keys.

Get to know the parents of your children's friends. The more you know the easier it is to spot potential dangers away from home. Ask other parents (and family members) if they have a gun, and if they do, ask whether it's locked up. This is a difficult conversation, but it's important because nearly half of all accidental shootings of kids under 16 take place in the homes of friends and family members. As your children get older, make sure you always know where they are and who their friends are. Studies show that unsupervised children have the most behavior problems and are most likely to resolve conflicts with violence.

Monitor what your kids watch on TV, movies and computer games. Scenes of explicit violence should be off limits for school-age children. Young kids aren't able to distinguish between what looks like reality on screen and real life.

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