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Gun Safety: What Every Child Should Know

The Truth About 'Toy' Guns

The truth about toy guns

BB guns, pellet guns and air rifles can quickly turn from toys to weapons if used improperly. "We've seen kids shot in the chest with a BB gun and killed," says Michael Gittelman, MD, assistant professor of the Division of Emergency Medicine at Cincinnati Children's.


"We've also seen kids shot in the head or the eye. People think these guns are just toys, but they can be lethal."


"Some BBs can travel as fast as 750 feet per second," Dr. Gittelman says. "The velocity is significant. Kids don't realize these so-called toy guns can injure or even kill you."


Teaching children to use the guns only with adult supervision and emphasizing that they must be used only for target practice are other important safety precautions.

Approximately half of all US households have guns. So, even if your house is firearm-free, it's likely your child will enter a home that is not. "Whether or not you have a gun in your home, you need to educate your child about gun safety," says Michael Gittelman, MD, assistant professor in the Division of Emergency Medicine, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and co-director of the Injury Free Coalition for Kids of Greater Cincinnati.

Children should know to take four steps if they ever hear about, know about or see a gun:

  1. Stop.
  2. Don't touch the gun.
  3. Leave the area.
  4. Tell an adult.

"The ground rules are the same for every child at every age, and the rules need to be repeated often," he emphasizes. "Parents should enforce them as strongly as they enforce looking both ways before crossing a street."

Explaining the rules clearly is also important. "If your child hears that Jim has a gun in his locker at school, he or she shouldn't go to Jim's locker to see if there really is a gun in there," Dr. Gittelman adds. "Your child should know to leave and tell an adult."

Talk It Up: Discuss Gun Safety

Opportunities for discussing gun safety arise often. For example, parents should review the four rules with their children whenever they are going to a friend's, neighbor's or relative's house for the first time.

Failing to teach or enforce gun-safety rules can have unthinkable consequences. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics, a child or teen was killed in a firearm-related accident or suicide every eight hours in 2001.

Added Precautions for Gun Owners

Families that own guns should take extra precautions to help ensure the safety of children who live in or visit their homes.

"First, I would ask whether or not you really need a gun in your house," Dr. Gittelman says. "If you choose to own a gun, it should be stored unloaded in a locked cabinet or drawer. The ammunition should be stored separately – in a different, locked location. And you need to be sure your children do not have access to the keys."

Trigger locks that prevent guns from being fired are another important precaution for firearm owners.

Keeping Teens on Target

Gun safety standards cannot be relaxed as children mature. In a 1993 Harris Poll, 60 percent of students in grades 6 to 12 said guns were easily accessible in their homes.

"The older children get, the more worried I'd be about having a gun in the house," says Dr. Gittelman. "A home gun is more likely to be used in a homicide or suicide than for protecting the home. Even if guns are stored appropriately, older children can start figuring out lock combinations or looking for keys if they want to get a gun."

Protecting children of all ages requires diligence and repetition. "Gun safety should be an embedded concern," emphasizes Dr. Gittelman. "Parents should talk to their children about gun safety at every stage of their lives."