“Is there an unlocked gun in your home?”
A question so simple, yet so easily forgotten. Personally, my parents never had guns in my household and never even owned a gun. Honestly, this made me naive to the fact that other families could have a gun or multiple guns in their homes. I was not even allowed to play with toy guns. The only gun exposure I had was the gun violence shown on the 5 o’clock news, which involved gangs or drug dealers.
But the reality is that one out of three homes with children have guns, which often times are left out and loaded. As a kid, many of my friend’s parents owned guns. However, my family never sat me down and explained to me the importance of gun safety. Asking the simple question of “is there an unlocked gun in your home?” decreases the chance of an accidental gun discharge. Asking that simple question also decreases the chance of a purposeful gun discharge as well. Approximately 82% of firearms used in teen suicides and 75% of guns used in school shootings come from the home.
Asking Saves Kids Campaign promotes June 21st, 2018 as National ASK Day, which is held each year on the first day of summer. During the summer, kids and teens are more likely to search and experiment with guns found in the household because they have more free time on their hands. This gives them the perfect opportunity to find unlocked and loaded guns inside their homes to experiment with. So how can you potentially save the lives of your son, daughter, brother, sister, niece, nephew, friend, or spouse? By asking this question, “is there an unlocked gun in your home?” Now, if that is too uncomfortable for you to ask, you can always start with a series of questions. Start by asking, “Do you own a gun?” or “Do you keep it loaded?” or “Do you have a gun locked away in a safe place?”
Social media is the way of the future and our time is now. We have an impact on gun safety and it is time to talk about it. Share this article and start the conversation, it could save lives.
For more information go to AskingSavesKids.org and RSVP to the Facebook event here.