Bike, Skateboard, and Sports Safety

Pediatric Injury Prevention
Gun Safety

Gun safety

UNC Trauma supports The ASK (Asking Saves Kids) Campaign, which promotes a simple idea with the potential to help keep kids safe. It encourages parents to ASK if there is an unlocked gun in the homes where their children play. The ASK Campaign was created in collaboration with the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Parents ask all sorts of questions before their children visit other homes. They ask about pets in the house, discuss allergies, and ask questions about supervision. ASK encourages parents to add one more question to this conversation: “Is there an unlocked gun in your house?” It’s a simple question, but it has the power to save a child’s life.

For more than a decade, the ASK Campaign has partnered with over 400 grassroots organizations to spread its message in neighborhoods nationwide. It has successfully inspired an estimated 19 million households to ask if there are guns where their children play. Join these parents and pledge to ASK this life-saving question at www.askingsaveskids.org /pledge. You can also learn about more ways to get involved in ASK, and how you can spread the ASK message in your community.

What you need to know about keeping kids safe around guns.

Store Guns and Bullets Safely

Store guns in a locked place, unloaded, out of the reach and sight of kids.
Store bullets in a separate locked place, out of the reach and sight of kids.
Keep the keys and the numbers to open the lock hidden.
When a gun is not in its lock box, keep it in your line of sight.
Make sure all guns have working, child-resistant gun locks.
Make sure guests who have guns also store it in a locked place while visiting.
Do not Leave guns out where a child can get it and get hurt or killed

Talk to Your Kids and Their families

Tell kids that a gun they see on TV or a game is different from a gun in real life.
Teach kids DO NOT touch a gun and to tell an adult if they see one right away.
Talk everyone who visits about safe gun use.

Get Rid of Guns You Don’t Need

If you decide that you no longer need to have a gun in your home, get rid of it.

Adapated from Safe Kids Worldwide

Gunshot wounds are amongst our most common cause of injury seen at the UNC Trauma Center for kids and adults. Our injury prevention efforts surrounding this serious and complicated problem consist of offering Stop the Bleed classes to community and providing community agencies such as law enforcement with gun locks to distribute in to community members. Additionally, we are excited to be working with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department to launch Orange County, NC’s first Gun Safety Team.

For more information on having Stop the Bleed brought to your community group or how you can get a gun lock at no cost please contact Anna Stormzand at anna.stormzand@unchealth.unc.edu or 984-974-2437.