CNN iReport

Gunowners, let's keep our side clean.

Safety is a lifetime commitment which comes with owning a firearms - not something that you do only when you feel like it. Amateurs skip safety-checks - pros don't.

Let's go through the 4 Rules one more time - and you have to fail 2 or more of these steps before someone gets hurt, so there is zero excuse for hurting anyone. There is no such thing as an "accidental" discharge - only negligent discharges.

Rule # 1: Treat all guns as if they are loaded. "Unloaded" guns cause more deaths than loaded guns.

Rule # 2: Always keep a firearm pointed in a safe direction. In other words, never let the muzzle of a gun point at anything you do not want to destroy.

Rule # 3: Keep your finger off the trigger until you're ready to shoot.
 
Rule # 4: Be absolutely sure of your target and what is behind it.

It is a parent's responsibility to secure firearms from children, nobody else's - not the police, not the government, *yours*. If a child shoots themselves or someone else, it is *your* failure as a parent - period. Gun-proof a child once they are old enough - again, it's your responsibility to know when that is. You don't want them to think of guns as "forbidden fruit" - eventually you'll need to teach them how to unload a firearm safely.

(Pic courtesy of Oleg Volk)