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SALT LAKE CITY — Tragedies like the one that left a Cottonwood Heights teenager dead this week are preventable, according to gun safety advocates.
A 17-year-old boy died after being accidentally shot when friends passed around a gun Wednesday night.
Utah has the second-highest rate of gun owners in the country, which means even if you don't own a gun, it's pretty likely your child will come across one. Experts say it is important to prepare them for when and if that happens.
RAIN6 is a firearms training company that teaches what it says every teen should know, including proper firearm handling and storage. James Story with RAIN6 said preventing a nightmare begins with locking up the gun.
"This would come off of my hip, go into my safe, and I’d make sure it’s secure,” he said of his gun.
But if a teen gets his or her hands on one, Story breaks down gun safety into three rules.
“Rule No. 1, keep it in a safe direction. Rule No. 2 would be keep your finger out of the trigger well so the business end, where it’s going to make it go ‘bang,’ keep it out of there until you’re ready to shoot,” he said. “The third thing is keep it unloaded until you’re ready to use it."
According a 2006 study, 22 percent of children with gun-owning parents have handled a firearm without the parents’ knowledge.
Miriam Walkingshaw of the group Utah Parents Against Gun Violence said, “When you choose not to lock up a gun, you don’t know whose hands it can get into.”
Walkingshaw said in Utah, at least five children under the age of 18 have been accidentally shot and killed within the last six months: “Even if you don’t have guns, I think it’s important to talk to your kids about guns,” she said.
