What would your kids do if you were not around and they found a gun?
One out of three homes with kids in America have guns and too many of those guns are loaded and left within a child’s reach.
That is whyFox 59 in Indianapolis wanted to see... What would kids do if they came across a real gun?
The station invited eight kids ages four to nine and their parents to a play date. With the permission of these parents, they set up hidden cameras.
Police Officer Tracey Cantrell provided the unloaded gun.
He placed the gun in a tote full of toys before two moms took it upstairs to the kids. The other were parents watching below.
The moms had not even left the room yet, when the oldest boy grabbed the gun.
Some of the kids ran downstairs to tell mom and dad, but came right back up.
The child pointed and waved the gun, you can even hear him pull the trigger.
Next it was the girls' turn. One little girl held the gun right at another girl's face. Some kids once again ran downstairs and that time the parents came back up with them.
The children apologized as the parents entered the room and Officer Cantrell told the kids what they were just playing with was a real weapon.
One parent asked, "Why did you pick up the gun?' and a child responded "Um I honestly thought it would be like a toy."
"I don't want to come to tears at the idea of just thinking about how real that situation could've been," a parent said.
The kids, who thought the gun was just a toy, learned a big lesson.
Officer Cantrell showed the children a fake gun that looks incredibly real and he told them no matter what it is, they should always stay away and go find an adult.
The parents learned a lesson too, especially the ones who thought they had taught their kids about gun safety.
