In life there are several things that should be handled with care.

Just a few examples include operation of a vehicle or heavy machinery, a person’s choice of words when speaking with loved ones about a difficult topic, and the handling of firearms.

While operating a vehicle, you want to take care to ensure the lane you wish to enter is clear, the right of way is yours before crossing an intersection and the parking brake is engaged when you leave it on an incline.

Sharing bad news with a loved one should employ careful wording and tact to ensure your message is clear and makes a minimal impact.

Guns are just as dangerous, if not more so. If you don’t handle them with the same amount of attention as a vehicle or your words, the consequences could be deadly.

That was the case for a Gulfport teenager earlier this week, when he accidentally shot himself while preparing to record a video for the Internet.

According to a press release from the Gulfport Police Department, the boy accidentally shot himself in the chest while holding a small firearm. He died from that wound.

In order to accidentally shoot oneself with a firearm, the first rule of firearm safety would have to be ignored, “always treat a gun as though it’s loaded.”

Other rules concerning proper firearm storage and use could have prevented this tragedy from occurring, such as carefully monitoring teenagers while they handle firearms. Ideally, only adults would be allowed to use a firearm, but there does come an age when parents should begin to teach their children the 12 golden rules of firearm use. That training would include knowing that all firearms should be pointed away from people at all times, firearms should be stored in an unloaded state that includes removing rounds from the chamber and never rely on the gun’s safety to keep it from discharging. While those are some of the rules, careful observation of all 12 rules is essential in ensuring that accidents don’t occur.