Three Fundamental Gun-Safety Rules

• 1). Always point the barrel of a gun in a safe direction. Keep the front end of the gun pointed in such a direction that if it inadvertently fired, it would not cause injury to anyone. Never point a firearm at anyone or anything you do not intend to shoot.
  
  
• 2). Keep guns unloaded when they are not being used. Keeping the action open makes it easy to identify an unloaded firearm. When you pick up a gun, engage the safety if possible, remove any magazine and open the action to inspect the chamber.
  
  
• 3). Keep your finger off the trigger and outside the trigger guard of any gun until you are ready to fire the weapon. Rest your index finger on the side of the gun until you are ready to shoot.
  
  

As a Parent and in the Home

• 1). Unload all guns inside the home. Keep firearms unloaded when they are not being used. Lock up firearms in a secure location such as a gun safe and hide any keys from children. If the guns are not in a gun safe, consider other methods of securing them such as removing bolts or using trigger locks.
  
  
• 2). Lock up all ammunition away from where the guns are stored. Keeping the ammunition separate from the firearms will prevent children from accidentally loading a weapon.
  
  
• 3). Teach your children gun safety. Ask your children if guns are stored safely at their friends' homes and at any other places they play. Teach them not to touch guns and to immediately tell an adult if they find one unsecured. According to statistics provided by Stop Handgun Violence, guns are present in 40 percent of American homes and one-third of those guns are loaded.
  
  
• 4). Ask the parents of your children's friends if they have guns in their homes. Parents are ultimately responsibility for their children's safety. Regardless of how much we teach our own children, "any small child who picks up a gun is going to put a finger on the trigger and click it," says Judy Shaw, director of the Injury Prevention Program at Children's Hospital in Boston.