Parents Take Extra Precautions With Guns During Summer
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CAMDEN, Tenn. – Childhood gun and shooting accidents are not rare, they rank in the top ten causes of accidental death for all age groups. Tactical Response in Camden said that could all be changed with education and precaution. Reid Henrichs is a firearms instructor at Tactical Response and said firearm education is the key. “I think education is very important about that, and to understand you have to respect firearms.They are dangerous but so are many other things,” he said. Chester Volz said he needs to protect his home but has a teenage daughter. He says even though he’s educated his daughter on firearms the need for a locked case was never an option. “Even though your child may be educated with firearms the people coming to your home may not be,” he said. In a state with 350,000 gun permits and counting and with children out of school for summer, often in unsupervised homes, many parents think education may not be enough. “If you’re away from the home whether you like it or not you don’t know what’s going on unless you’re there. If you’re not the child may be having friends in the house you don’t know about. If they get access to [the guns] you’re responsible,” he said. Experts suggest storing ammunition and firearms separately and never allowing children near guns unless supervised. “There’s a difference between negligence and an accident. An accident you have no control over, negligence you have direct control over,” Henrichs said. Volz said his constitutional right to bare arms should never put any child in danger. “I think there’s a better chance a child hurting themselves with a gun than needing to defend themselves,” he said.
