This is a scary thought… swimming might be more dangerous than having fully loaded guns. In fact, more than 100 times more dangerous!

Don’t run away or drop this thought. Let me explain.

This Short Article Is Not Truly About Guns

This article will examine rather-or-not you are safer to raise your children in a home with a swimming pool or in a home where firearms are kept and their fully loaded.

In nearly all homes that have loaded firearms, the parents have taken safety actions to keep their children safe and away from the firearms. This is smart. Unfortunately, we can’t say this same thing about homes that have a swimming pool. For some reason, safety and the swimming pool don’t get the same attention.

Multiple Layers of Protection for Firearms

Parents that maintain firearms at home usually set-up multiple layers of protection. The firearms are normally locked in their own special case or they are quietly hidden and difficult to find. The trigger mechanisms are often locked. Children are thoroughly warned and reminded to maintain a safe distance from the firearms.

These same type of precautions are often neglected in homes with a swimming pool.

Which Is More Dangerous… Swimming Pools or Fully Loaded Guns?

According to Stephen D. Levitt, a professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, a “swimming pool is about 100 times more likely to kill a child than the gun”.

Now, I am not promoting guns, but read his paper and you’ll understand why he is saying pools are so unsafe. His article highlights how little attention most homeowners give to the potential hazard that is just sitting in their own yard.

That is the point that I’m trying to make in this article. We can help prevent drownings in home swimming pools if we all give a little more attention to taking safety precautions at home. Multiple layers of precautions at homes with swimming pools can go a long way in saving lives. Let us take a look at some of these safety precaution layers:

Home Pool Fences

A home pool fence is specifically installed to keep children and pets away from the pool. Drowning rates go way down in homes where swimming pool fences have been installed. Of course, it is important to be a sturdy, high quality fence. Read this blog article for more details.

Self-Closing, Self-Latching Gate

So often overlooked. A self-closing and self-latching gate is so important to keep little ones away and out of the pool.

Loud Alarms and Secure Locks

If there are doors and/ or windows that have access to the swimming pool, it is important to have loud alarms and secure locks on these to alert you when these are opened.

These are three layers of protection. Look at the infographic below for number of other layers of protection.

Swimming Pools Might Be More Dangerous Than Fully Loaded Guns