Project Childsafe: A Resource Every Gun-Owning Family Should Know
Eve Flanigan 02.19.21
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) is an industry-supported promotion and advocacy group based in Connecticut. They’ve made a sincere effort to be responsive to social and safety concerns surrounding gun ownership.
Among the organization’s projects toward that general cause is Project Childsafe, a multi-faceted program that aims to help gun-owning families navigate the sometimes difficult decisions regarding having both guns and youngsters in their households.
This is especially true as the gun community welcomes new members who have no immediate family or cultural connection to guns. A recent post by NSSF reports that 21 million gun-purchase background checks were performed in 2020. That’s a 20 percent increase over 2019, which was also a banner year.
NSSF analysis indicates that 40 percent of those purchases are first-time gun owners, or a stunning 8.4 million Americans owning guns for the first time. Of course, these figures do not represent additional private, yet legal, purchases that did not undergo a background check.
Non-traditional gun ownership burgeons within these numbers. Women represent 40 percent of gun purchases in 2020. The number of African Americans making purchases increased 56 percent compared to 2019. So the need for safety information among new gun owners, both with and without children, is a logical conclusion. NSSF has stepped up to the plate with a number of resources under its Project Childsafe banner. They include:
- A Safe Storage Options Infographic showcasing various methods of safe storage.
- An interactive Road to Responsible Gun Ownership tool to help ensure potential gun buyers think about safety and storage even before they commit to making a purchase.
- An interactive Buying Your First Gun Infographic.
- A Firearm Storage and Safety Assessment Quiz to help ensure firearms and be safely stored in the home.
- A video for parents on How to Talk to Kids about gun safety.
- A fact sheet with Ten Tips For Firearm Safety In Your Home.
It is never the business of the government to dictate how and where a peaceful person or family should store their guns. The tips provided by NSSF can help people make good decisions that assist with home security while not drawing negative attention, thanks to incident prevention.
Ways to communicate about firearms with children and teens are also covered in the topics above, which beats no communication in terms of the safe inclusion of guns on the family scene. Check these out and share.
