At home with guns

John Blaschke and his three stepdaughters live in one of the millions of American households with both children and guns. The girls were introduced to guns by their father, who is also a gun owner.

All along they have gotten this message: Before you touch a gun, you should know what to do around it. Make sure it isn’t loaded. Don’t ever point it at anyone.

“Education is a very big part,” says Mr. Blaschke, an elementary and middle school teacher who lives in Northern Virginia. “Guns and families can coexist. It boils down to responsibility. A responsible gun owner needs to make sure his children develop a respect for [the guns].”

These days, two of Mr. Blaschke’s stepdaughters — Meghan Nelson, 14, and Darby Nelson, 10 — are safe as well as skilled with guns. They practice at the shooting range with Mr. Blaschke. Darby is thinking of entering a competition. The third stepdaughter is not interested in guns.

“John and Darby have really bonded doing things like this,” says the girls’ mother, Sara.

Estimates vary, but the general statistic from public safety groups is that about 40 percent of American households with children also have guns.

There is evidence that many families are not using the diligence of the Blaschkes — downplaying the mystique of firearms, following safety rules and locking the guns in a safe. In 13 percent of the homes with children and firearms, the guns often are kept loaded and unlocked, according to a 2001 survey by the Rand Corp., a research group.

Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that a child or teen is killed in a gun-related accident or suicide every eight hours. In 2002, the most recent year for which statistics are available, more than 800 children ages 14 and younger were treated in hospital emergency rooms for unintentional gun injuries.

The gun debate is a heated issue in America. Proponents for both sides agree, though, that the safety of children is paramount.

“It is incumbent on every gun owner to determine an effective means of safe storage,” says Andrew Arulanandam, director of public affairs for the National Rifle Association. “There really isn’t a one-size-fits-all to gun safety and storage. Sadly, human nature is such that we can’t legislate responsibility.”

Safe storage?

John Lacey, spokesman for the Americans for Gun Safety Foundation, a nonprofit gun owners’ group that advocates safe storage, says keeping guns locked up is the best way to keep them out of a child’s, teen’s or criminal’s hands.

“Our take is ‘Love your gun; lock it up,’” Mr. Lacey says. “There is an increase in suicide and injury when guns are not stored safely. There is also a greater chance of guns being stolen if they are not locked up. Stolen guns are one of the primary ways criminals get ahold of weapons.”

Eighteen states — including Maryland and Virginia — have safe storage (also called child access prevention) laws. These laws hold parents liable for children using a firearm unsupervised.

States with safe storage laws average 26 percent fewer stolen guns than states without them, Mr. Lacey says. A 2004 report by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research says suicide rates for teens ages 14 to 17 showed an 8 percent reduction because of safe storage laws.

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