JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Guns are a part of life in households across America. Josh McNair, a lead gun safety expert at the BASICS: Range & Gun shop, believes everyone should have training if they are going to have a gun around.
“The Second Amendment gives us the right to carry, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone’s prepared to carry,” McNair says.
Michael Sappe is a private gun safety instructor, and he agrees.
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“First it starts with personal responsibility,” he said.
Experts say everyone in the house needs gun education, whether they plan to use it or not.
“With guns especially, it’s really important to start with the basics; adults, kids, no matter who it is,” McNair said.
The instructors believe if there are kids in the home, they need to know the danger guns present.
“With kids, it’s kind of like teaching them not to touch the hot oven, not to go down the stairs without some safety … same exact thing,” McNair stated.
Safety experts say they know it’s a problem. Thursday morning, a 6-year-old girl was killed after being shot in the head.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said the gun was legally purchased and believe it belonged to the girl’s parent.
Investigators have not said who pulled the trigger, but it’s a death experts say never should have happened.
“With kids, you need them to understand the dangers, ... but you also need to understand that this is a means to an end, to protect ourselves,” McNair says.
Safety coaches like Sappe recommend if a gun isn’t in use, to have it locked up or disabled.
“Once you get home, make sure it’s safe and secure, locked up with either a trigger lock or in a gun safe,” Sappe says.
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Those steps can save a life.
“It’s just tragic. and it didn’t have to happen. It didn’t have to happen.”
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