CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- Petersburg's police chief is making a plea for people to keep their firearms away from children after a 6-year-old was tragically killed on Tuesday, March 10. Firearms training experts are giving tips on how you can keep your family safe. After Tuesday's shooting, Chief Travis Christian said in a statement, "This heartbreaking tragedy reminds us of the critical importance of keeping firearms safe and secure and away from children." The owner of 6 O'clock Safety Training in Chesterfield, David Childress, advises what that looks like. "A responsible homeowner should have many layers to protect in their farm so that children, or if you're not home and someone gains entry to your home, they do not have access to your firearms," Childress said. Those layers of protection mean before firing a weapon, someone would need to get through a locked safe, remove the chamber or trigger lock and load the weapon with ammunition. The longer that takes is more time between a child finding a weapon, and a tragic accident happening. "If you have children in the home, you should not store a loaded firearm," Childress said. "[Not] under the bed, between the mattress, on the top shelf of the closet." "You want to make sure that it's put away, unloaded, and out of reach of your children," Childress said. But out of sight, out of mind, is not enough. Childress said children should also be educated about firearm safety. "We teach them that every gun is real. We teach them that you treat every gun as if it's loaded. If you see a firearm, whether you're playing in the park, you see someone at school with one, then you notify an adult," Childress said. "We teach that, so that they can be aware of how to deal with that firearm." Childress also trains parents and their children on handling firearms. He encourages having household members trained together, so they know how to respond if an emergency happens. Plus, responsible training can reduce the risk of an accident. "We teach our firearm handlers that, you're responsible for every round that comes out of that firearm," Childress said. "Whether you hold it or not." You can learn more about 6 O'clock Safety Training's programs on their website. ...read more read less