Gun Safety
The most important part of owning a gun is gun safety. There is no way around it. Guns are useful and have been with us for a long time. As a piece of machinery, they are harmless. It is when they are in the hands of those with ill intent that they become dangerous. This danger also occurs when they end up in the hands of those who have no idea how powerful they are, and have no idea how to handle them properly. So many people die by accident simply because they were never schooled in gun safety, and that is incredible sad, and totally avoidable.
If you have a gun in your house you have to teach your children about gun safety. It doesn't matter if you have rifles and shotguns used for hunting, or if you have a small handgun in your home for protection. Children have a way of getting their hands on things they don't even know are there. Just because you have your rifles locked up, or your handgun is up on the top shelf of your closet does not mean they will not get into little hands. This is the most common mistake parents make.
Gun safety is more about learning what a gun can do rather than how to handle one. When a child is young, they should know what your gun or rifle does, though you don't want to give them mental images they cannot handle. You should never let a young child handle a gun, but you can tell them what they do. If you have rifles displayed in your home, they are going to want to play with them. You have to be firm in letting them know it is unacceptable.
When they are older, they are ready to learn how a gun works. If you hunt, you probably will teach your children how to shoot a rifle or shotgun so they can accompany you. Make sure the main focus of your lesson is gun safety. This should be drilled into their heads, and you should not allow them to hunt with you until they have completed a hunter's safety course. I was around rifles and guns my entire childhood and it never dawned on me to touch without permission or to fire one on my own. My grandfather and my dad both took gun safety very seriously. If you take gun safety seriously, so will your children.
