You ever see the "news" story on TV where they put unloaded handguns in toyboxes, send kids in to play, and record what happens? There was footage of those children finding them (unexpectedly), pointing the real guns at each other's heads, etc. It was disturbing.
My wife and I wanted to test how our kids would react after we saw this, so we did that same test in our home. I mounted a hidden wireless camera in the kid's playroom, and put a (thoroughly checked) unloaded Glock in to the toy box.
The kids came indoors (they'd been playing outside), and we told them to go play in the kids living room for awhile. We flipped on the picture-in-picture svideo feed from the wireless receiver on the television, and watched. Sure enough, after a few minutes our (then) four year old daughter, opens the toybox. She stopped what she was doing, turned to one of the older kids (our 9 year old), who came over. Our younger girl pointed in the box. The older child immediately came out to the livingroom and said "Dad, you left a Glock in the toybox."
Not enough just to tell them once. You have to remind them. You have to remind them AGAIN, and again.. and again. It doesn't hurt to test as long as the test is done safely and in a controlled fashion. If your kids fail.. lock 'em up. (The guns, not the kids!) Even if your kids pass, it's important to have occasional family sit downs. I do this at the range when possible, followed by a demonstration of what bullets do. Fear and respect go hand in hand, and the loud sharp noise is scary as hell to those who aren't accustomed to it.
The golden rules of firearms safety are built for adults who are handling weapons. Young children need a different set of rules. My wife helped me cook up the simple rules our children are taught.
#1 Guns can kill, they are not toys.
#2 Do not point guns, even toy guns, at anyone! (Airsoft guns are identical in shape and appearance nowadays, so we just blanket this rule on ALL guns, even toys)
#3 If you see a gun, do not touch it! Ever!
#4 If you find a gun, or a bullet (aka cartridge), TELL AN ADULT RIGHT AWAY.
#5 If a friend of yours finds or picks up a gun, GO AND TELL AN ADULT RIGHT AWAY.
The rules WE follow as parents are also as simple;
#1 Remind the children often about firearms safety.
#2 Any visiting children get taught the same rules about guns. (We don't hide the fact that we own guns, that invites negative curiosity. We inform the children's parents that there are weapons in the house, and if they have an issue with it, that's ok, our children can go visit their children, instead of their children visiting ours.)
#3 Remind our children that talking about firearms at school is STRICTLY forbidden. Their school (like many post-columbine) has a zero tolerance policy and simply DRAWING a PICTURE of a weapon is grounds for expulsion.
#4 (On our older children, 10 and up), periodically go through check & clear exercises to make sure they handle the weapons safely and know how to clear loaded weapons.
#5 Secure all firearms prior to leaving the children alone (even with a sitter).
When the children are old enough to start being taught (I started mine at 10 years old), THEN we start on the golden rules of safe handling. Until then, they're taught do not touch them, to go and tell an adult if they see or find a gun.
Anyway my opinion is unless the children are old enough to go to the range and shoot, teaching them the golden rules WE live as gun owners by isn't effective on it's own if the children are very young. Teaching them not to touch them, and to tell an adult, has proven effective.
Anyone know of anything I might have missed? No system is perfect, and I want to make sure we've got all of our bases covered.
