Gun safety for kids

ESTERO, Fla. – Families are turning to gun classes for their children in hopes of keeping their kids safe.

Sunday afternoon Jeremy and his wife had a special instructor come to their house to work with their boys ages 8, 9 and 11. Jeremy, who was never raised around guns, said they decided they wanted their children to learn about guns and gun safety.

“There’s no doubt this is a polarizing topic and even amongst ourselves, my wife and I, we’ve run the roller coaster of ‘no way’ we don’t want our kids around guns,” he said. “The reality is our kids will likely come across a gun at some point, and if they know what to do and how to handle, I’m going to feel better as a parent.”

Brad Gallagher has more than two decades of experience in the military and law enforcement, and recently he started offering gun safety classes geared toward children.

“I saw a need for it. There were a lot of children not being taught proper safety,” Gallagher explained. “…they’re going to be exposed {to guns} no matter what, whether it be video games, school, someone’s house.”

Gallagher’s class lasts roughly three to four hours and covers a variety of gun-related topics. He starts with showing children all the different types of guns and what they could look like, they talk about what to do if you find a gun, what to do if your friend has one and what to do if an officer ever approaches you and you may have a toy gun that looks real. He ends the class with taking the children outside to shoot a Glock pistol with training ammunition.

That Sunday, Jeremy’s three boys all got their first chance to experience the power of a gun.

Their youngest, 8-year-old Luke tried it first.

“I thought it was very fun but it was hard to do…my first shot was harder than I expected,” he said.

When asked, “If you come across a gun, what are you going to do now?”

He responded with what he had learned that day, “You’re going to leave it there and try to find an adult.”

According to gun control advocacy group EveryTown, in 2015 there were 272 cases nationwide where a child accidentally shot themselves or someone else.

“If we can prevent one accident from happening then we’ve done our goal,” Gallagher echoed.

For more information on Gallagher’s class, click here. The NRA also has literature and videos online you can show your children that teach them gun safety.