Keep it locked and unloaded: The importance of gun safety

As the only Level II Pediatric Trauma Center in Western Washington, Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital sees hundreds of catastrophic injuries every year in its emergency department. A majority of these injuries — including gun wounds — are preventable with proper education and safety measures.

In 2021, accidental gun injuries accounted for nearly 10 percent of traumatic injuries treated at Mary Bridge Children’s.

Most gun injuries involving children are unintentional and happen when kids — who are curious by nature — find an unsecured firearm that is loaded. Children as young as 3 years old can be strong enough to pull the trigger on a gun.

Families should think about gun storage as a basic child safety issue, just like the safe storage of medications or household cleaners, or the use of car seats and bike helmets.

If you own firearms, take the following steps to ensure your guns are properly stored at all times and that all family members — including children — know the safety rules for handling or being around guns.

Do not rely on your child’s ability to remember that they should simply not touch a gun.

If you have a gun in your home:

• Keep it unloaded, out of reach and locked.
• Use a gun safe, lock box or trigger lock.
• Lock ammunition in a separate location away from the gun.
• Hide the keys to the lock boxes.
• When a gun is out of its lock box, keep it in your sight at all times.

Teach your children to:

• Stay away from the gun.
• Do not touch the gun, even if it looks like a toy.
• Alert an adult right away if they see an unattended firearm.

If your child or teen uses guns for recreation, ensure that:

• The gun remains stored and locked up. Do not let the child access the keys or passcodes to the lock boxes for the firearm.
• The child or teen knows that it is never OK to handle the gun without a responsible adult present at all times.
• The child or teen knows to assume that all guns are always loaded and to never point the gun at anyone.

For more resources about child safety, visit Center for Childhood Safety. For information about gun lock boxes, including where to purchase, visit King County’s violence prevention.

If you have a firearm you no longer want, consult your local law enforcement agency about how to safely dispose of it.