Fish & Game

Store Your Gun Safely

With deer hunting season winding down in January, it is an especially good time for gun owners to think about safe firearm storage. Proper storage protects those you love and keeps firearms out of the hands of criminals. 

 In 2023, the Pew Research Center estimated that 45.7 percent of adult Texans own a gun. Texas has the highest number of registered gun owners in the nation at nearly 600,000. One-third of homes with children have a firearm, and in some cases these firearms may be unlocked and loaded, according to the Department of Public Safety. These firearm-owning homes include many of the 1.2 million Texans who purchase hunting licenses each year.

The Keep ’Em Safe Texas program was created three years ago to inform and educate gun owners, including hunters, about the importance of safely storing firearms when not in use.
“Education about home firearm storage and safety is paramount to keeping guns out of the wrong hands,” says Assistant Chief Jason Hester of DPS Regulatory Services. “We appreciate the efforts of our partners statewide, as they are diligently and consistently helping us to communicate this life-saving message to protect Texas families and prevent accidents.”

As the state’s hunting authority, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department developed a Hunter Education program more than 50 years ago, teaching 1.5 million Texans how to safely handle and store guns. Hunting-related accidents in Texas are at an all-time low since the course became mandatory in 1988.

“We spend a lot of time teaching about safety in the field — it is equally as important to safely store your firearm before and after the hunt,” says TPWD Hunter Education coordinator Steve Hall.