Project ChildSafe Launches "Many Paths to Firearms Safety" Videos

The National Shooting Sports Foundation's Project ChildSafe has launched three safe storage educational videos titled "Many Paths to Firearms Safety."

We are excited to share the new “Many Paths to Firearm Safety” video series! The videos highlight the importance of safe storage no matter your lifestyle: https://t.co/8UWdVtr7qp pic.twitter.com/5DyrVJyb43

— Project ChildSafe (@ProjChildSafe) April 16, 2019

The videos are portrayals of three different gun owners and their stories of ownership, along with the steps they took to make sure they would handle and store that firearm safely when not in use.

 

The series reflects that more Americans – especially women – are buying guns for many different reasons, ranging from personal protection to target and sports shooting.  The central message is that while there are many different reasons why someone would choose to buy a gun, the common thread among them must be a commitment to store firearms responsibly when not in use so they can't be picked up by a child, stolen or accessed by someone who may want to harm themselves.

Funded by a 2015 award from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, NSSF has been doing an enhanced version of their firearm lock distribution program in three cities - Oklahoma City, Memphis, and Cleveland, that also includes two public service announcements and the video vignettes.

Lynchburg Police Urge Gun Owners to Lock Their Cars

WSLS 10 News in Lynchburg reports that in the last five years, 118 guns were reported stolen out of unlocked cars in Lynchburg.  Lynchburg Police are urging gun owners to lock their cars.


This is a national problem as well.  The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) has produced a “Firearms Safety in Vehicles” brochure with tips and precautions for shooters who sometimes have a gun in their car, SUV or truck. Whether you’re heading to the range for a day of trigger time or carrying concealed, the reminder’s applicable.

Toys, Tools, Guns & Rules: A Children's Book About Gun Safety

That's the title of a new book for children about firearm safety by Julie Golob.

Besides being a World Champion Shooter, Julie is a strong advocate for the Second Amendment, appearing in a series of ads for the NRA, a lead trainer in NRATV's Love at First Shot series, as well as helping promote safe storage through the National Shooting Sports Foundation's Project ChildSafe.  She also is a great advocate for getting shooters involved in competitive shooting sports.  Julie's YouTube page describes the book like this:

There are hundreds of millions of guns in the United States alone. Despite how polarizing the media and politics have made the topic of firearms, we must talk with our children about guns and firearm safety to protect them and help prevent deaths and injuries. World-champion professional shooter, firearms instructor, and mother Julie Golob helps you start a conversation about firearms with young children. Toys, Tools, Guns & Rules helps parents break the ice with kids on this taboo topic.

Colorful and realistic illustrations inspire essential conversations about guns by:

• Comparing firearms to other potentially dangerous adult tools.
• Exploring the different types of firearms and what can they look like.
• Educating curious minds about how firearms work and the most dangerous parts of a gun.
• Identifying adults children may know who safely and responsibly use firearms.

Golob also provides a useful guide for parents on how to make the most out of Toys, Tools, Guns & Rules, so that you can answer the questions and establish your own family rules when it comes to firearms. Don’t let the fear of guns or their potential danger keep you from talking about them. Gun safety is for everyone.

Learn more at kidsgunsafetybook.com

Oh,  Julie's also running for the NRA Board this year.  You can find out more about that here.   If she wins, don't expect her to be a celebrity board member that doesn't show up.  She has a passion for the shooting sports and firearm freedom.

Unintentional Firearms Deaths Fall to New Lows While Sales Reached New Highs

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) has the story here:

Good news on the topic of fatal firearms accidents. The National Safety Council’s “Injury Facts—2017 Edition ” shows that the number of fatal firearms accidents dropped 17 percent from 2014 to 2015 to 489, the lowest total since record-keeping began in 1903. That’s about three-tenths of 1 percent of the 146,571 total accidental deaths from all other listed causes, which are up 8 percent from 2014 to 2015. It should be noted that the decrease, which was the largest percentage decline of any category, came in a year that saw record firearms sales to many millions of Americans.

More evidence, as NSSF states in their post, that gun owners are responsible when storing their firearms.  It's also due to efforts of firearm safety training and programs like NSSF's Project ChildSafe.

NSSF recently released a new public safety announcement from their Bureau of Justice Assistance funded Project ChildSafe Communities initiative, Safety is a Habit.  The numbers prove for gun owners, it's a true statement.

Department of Justice's Million Dollar "Gun Safety" Public Service Announcements

So this is how the Obama Administration spends $1 million of taxpayers money trying to reach gun owners with a message about safe storage of firearms.

That was the most offensive of the two television public service announcement developed by the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) and the Ad Council and funded by the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance.  You see, firearms are scary. They scare kids, and, they cause nightmares, and are something for which we have to apologize.  Apparently, they didn't think about the millions of kids that participate in the shooting sports.

If they had simply stayed with the below, ad, it might not have been so bad, other than the fact NCPC/Ad Council must think that gun owners need children to tell them how to "follow rules."

But the print ads are even worse:

The above print and video ads are all part of a campaign where the Obama Administration found $1 million laying around (at a time when the "sequester" was causing cuts in defense) to spend on this.  You'd think from the ads, that there is an epidemic of accidental deaths from firearms in the home.  But just the opposite is true.

So, you tell me, which do you think will be a more effective firearm safety campaign targeting gun owners, something like this:

or the Justice Department/BJA/NCPC campaign?

By the way, the Julie Golob firearm safety campaign rolled out for Mother's Day didn't cost $1 million.