Gun safety education important for children

Interesting story in the paper today. This story is prompted by a shooting that happened over a month ago. It turns out that a kid was playing with a gun. Showing it to his friend I suppose. The gun goes off and the friend dies. The mother comes running. Moves body out to the sidewalk. Mother and child claim it was a drive by.

http://www.timesleader.com/stories/G...hildren,199390

Gun safety education important for children
County detective cautions parents about hiding firearms in their homes.
MATT HUGHES

It hard to hide anything from a curious child, and a gun is no exception, according to Luzerne County Detective Charles Balogh.

“Christmastime comes around and kids that are older – that know better – what are they doing,” Balogh asked. “They’re investigating. I tell parents, Christmastime comes around and they find things, and sometimes it’s a gun.

“Mom and dad might think they have a good hiding spot, but that’s not always the case.”

Investigators think a gun stashed in a parent’s bedroom was used in the accidental shooting of 14-year-old Tyler Winstead of Wilkes-Barre in April, according to court documents.

In general, Balogh said educating children about gun safety is more important than secrecy and other safeguards to preventing such accidents.

Firearms should be kept in locked, fireproof cabinets, and trigger locks can be obtained for free from most area police departments and the Luzerne County Sheriff’s Department, Balogh said, but parents shouldn’t consider them foolproof or a substitute for education.

“Even though it’s locked up, more than half of kids know where the key is and how to unlock it,” Balogh said.

Investigators allege the gun used in the Winstead shooting was stored in a book-shaped case equipped with a combination lock.

Balogh teaches elementary and middle school students what to do if they find a gun at the request of area school districts, using a program based in part on the National Rifle Association’s Eddie Eagle program. He teaches kids that might find a gun not to touch it, to leave the area and to immediately tell an adult. He said he asks children to imagine finding a gun in the woods, and asks what might happen if they picked it up.

“I explain that to them that it’s evidence,” Balogh said. “In that aspect kids get it; they say, oh yeah. I don’t want my finger prints on that.”

Balogh can’t say what the right age to teach a child to handle a gun is for parent’s who wish to do so – it depends on the child’s maturity – but it’s never too early to teach a child “how bad things could be if you horse around with it.”

Balogh also said a recent gun safety meeting for adults hosted by Wilkes-Barre’s Crime Watch Coalition received an “overwhelming” response of more than 80 in attending, an optimistic sign that parents are interested in gun safety.

“It tells you that there are many parents out there and gun owners who are looking to take responsibility and do the right thing,” Balogh said.

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