Unrealistic Expectations of Children’s Capabilities with Guns
Unrealistic perceptions of children's capabilities and behavioral tendencies with regard to guns are common. Nearly two-thirds of parents with school-age children who keep a gun in the home believe that the firearm is safe from their children. However, one study found that when a gun was in the home, 75 to 80 percent of first and second-graders knew where the gun was kept. Before age 8, few children can reliably distinguish between real and toy guns or fully understand the consequences of their actions. A recent study found that half of boys ages 8 to 12 who found a real handgun were unsure whether or not it was a toy. Children as young as age 3 are strong enough to pull the trigger of many of the handguns available in the United States