GREENFIELD — There was one rule Mark Highsmith wanted the children in the room to remember above all others, he told a crowd of families Saturday.
He repeated the advice several times during a discussion on firearm safety, hoping that reciting it over and over again would drive the point home.
If you see a gun, don’t touch it, he told the children, even asking them at one to repeat the phrase after him; instead, run and find an adult.
After more than two hours of discussion, this was the core message organizers of a gun-safety lesson said they wanted children to take to heart. Guns, they said, are tools of safety and protection; but can be deadly when not handled with the utmost caution and care.
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About 45 people, including many children, came to a meeting room at the Heartland Resort campground over the weekend for the class, offered free of charge by Highsmith Guns, the firearm sales business Mark Highsmith owns and operates in Greenfield.
The gun store organized the lesson in partnership with Ashlee Burke and Lauren Andrews, two Greenfield moms who earlier this year petitioned the Greenfield-Central Schools Board of Education to put metal detectors in each of the district’s buildings. Both women said they were pleased with the turnout at Saturday’s class. They’d hope the tips discussed would reinforce – with both parents and their kids – the importance of locking up guns to ensure they don’t fall into the wrong hands.
After all, the presenter said Saturday, no one wants kids to find a gun and hurt themselves and no one wants a troubled teen to find the gun and cause a tragedy.
About 11 percent of active shooters borrowed or took the gun they used in their attack from “someone known to them,” a recently released FBI study of the pre-attack behavior of active shooters found. More often, in 40 percent of active shooter instances, attackers legally purchased their firearm while planning a shooting. Another 35 percent already possessed the gun prior to their attack, the study showed.
Additionally, from 2014 to 2016, 152 children under age 12 accidentally killed themselves or were mistakenly shot and killed by another child because they’d obtained a loaded gun, according to the Associated Press.
Deaths are preventable if gun owners talk with kids about guns and always follow a few fundamental safety rules, Highsmith said.
And there is no middle ground when it comes to gun safety, he said. Gun owners must never become complacent.
Leaving a loaded firearm sitting around is “like keeping a lighter near gasoline,” Highsmith said.
He recommended purchasing a safe for all firearms and storing all ammunition away from the gun.
Guns should always be unloaded until they are ready to use; but owners should always treat a gun as if it’s loaded until they are certain there is no bullet inside, he said.
A loaded gun should never be pointed at or in the direction of something the user isn’t willing to destroy, he said.
It’s important, too, Highsmith continued, to start a dialogue among family members about firearms and the safe use of the devices. Parents should be an example to their children of a good, safe gun owner, he said.
Getting kids involved, teaching them about guns and gun safety, will take the stigma and the wonder away, he said, so that – in the event a child does see or find a firearm – they won’t have curiosity about the device and will, therefore, be less likely to handle it themselves and go to get an adult instead.
“You’re the one who has to teach your children, if guns are going to be a part of your life,” Highsmith told the parents in the crowd. “You have to be responsible … and get them to understand what gun safety is.”
In the end, Highsmith and fellow presenter Jonathan Wallace, of Native Executive Security, asked the children present to stand, raise their hands and read off a gun-safety pledge. Each child obliged, thrusting a hand in the air and promising to always act responsibly with firearms, to never willingly hurt anyone and to be a good example to their friends by always practicing safety first.
Stacy Blanton of Greenfield attended the class with her three daughters, and said she found the lesson interesting.
She and her husband are gun owners, and they regularly talk to their girls about gun safety, she said. She brought them to the class hoping that hearing the mantra from someone other than their parents would reinforce any lessons and tips they might already know, she said.
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Fundamental gun safety rules:
1. Treat all firearms as if they are loaded.
2. Always keep your finger off the trigger until you have your sights on a target and you have made the decision to fire.
3. Always keep the firearm unloaded until ready to use.
4. Always keep the muzzle facing a safe direction. Never point a firearm at anything you aren’t willing to destroy.
5. Before firing, be sure of your target and what’s behind it.
Source: Highsmith Guns
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