The VERY Import Safety Question Parents Aren’t Asking

As parents we’re called upon to do a lot of things: teach, provide, care, and most importantly, protect our children.

Like most, I take this parenting thing pretty seriously and would like to think that I’m doing a pretty good job. From covered electrical outlets to cushioned table corners, helmeted heads to school pickups and drop offs, danger mitigation is what parents do best.

And while it’s true that we can’t protect our kids from everything, it’ll never stop us from trying.

When my husband and I got into a major debate over owning a gun, I absolutely refused to back down. Despite knowing that firearms can be kept securely within a home, as for me and my house, the answer will always be no. But what I never stopped to consider was that the gun I refused to keep in my own house, might easily reside in someone else’s.

While national estimated gun ownership statistics vary, a Pew Research Center study found that 37 percent of American households contain firearms. Is this to suggest that on average, 37 percent of my kids’ friends have firearms in the homes they frequent? Perhaps. What percentage of those firearms are locked up and stowed away safely? We’ll never know unless we ask.

So parents, why aren’t we asking [read more…]

Image credit: Flickr/D Sharon Pruit