How to properly store your gun to protect your children — As Seen on WQOW News
As seen on WQOW
By Katrina Lim
Published: May 12, 2021 at 6:51 pm
LAKE HALLIE (WQOW) - After a three-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed himself in Milwaukee, a local gun shop is sharing advice on gun safety.
Manager Joseph Anderson with Marc-On Shooting in Lake Hallie said preventing accidents like this one starts with proper firearm storage.
To help protect kids, he said store guns unloaded and in a safe.
Local lawyers say if a child does accidentally kill themselves with your firearm, you can get charged with criminal negligence and even more.
Anderson said they provide a brochure with every handgun they sell about how you need to properly lock up your guns and store them in a safe manner, and every gun sold, new or used, comes with a gun lock. He says the locks are also available free at most police, sheriff's, and fire departments.
"When I say unloaded I mean, magazine removed, no round in the chamber, and locked. So it needs a key or a code or something to access that firearm," Anderson said. "Kids are curious. They're going to want to get into things and the last thing you want to do is, even if they see where you put the key, if they get into that safe somehow, the last thing you want them to do is have access to a loaded gun."
Marc-On officials also believe firearm safety should be added to the curriculum in schools to help decrease the chances of future accidental shootings.