Here are some safety recommendations for gun owners. Obviously every gun owner needs to practice safety as their own situation requires.

• Children: Lock up all firearms when not directly under your control. Even then do not keep the firearm loaded unless it is your sight at all times. Remove the magazine and any bullets in the chamber. You can quickly insert a magazine as needed. Keeping magazine separate from firearm deals with the possibility of a child sneaking off with your firearm while you sleep. Never underestimate the ability of children to get into trouble! I prefer to leave the safety off, no round in the chamber, and magazine removed. Inserting magazine and pulling the bolt back will load the first round. No need to try and remember where the safety is for that particular weapon.
• Mentally Unstable Adults: Same safety precautions as for children. Remember that you are responsible for keeping your firearms out of the hands of those who can not be trusted with them.
• Accidental Discharge: Always assume a firearm is loaded. Verify that it is unloaded, check the chamber and magazine both. Consider using cable ties through the breach to make it obvious the weapon is unloaded. Some handguns will not fire if the magazine is removed, but not all! So do not assume the removal makes the firearm safe.
• Over Penetration: Standard interior walls are a very poor barrier to bullets. The best approach is to buy a small box of fragmenting cartridges. These are expensive but with luck one box will serve a lifetime. Keep a magazine with just those rounds in it. Use this magazine anytime the weapon is kept at hand for home defense. Use the cheaper ammo for practice. In home use is at short ranges, so any differences in ballistics will not matter. Fragmenting rounds are available for almost all handguns as well as 5.56 NATO (M16 civilian copies, AR15, Mini-14 etc), 7.62x39 (AK civilian copies, SKS, Mini-30, CZ-30, etc.), 7.62 NATO (M14, HK91, AR-10, PTR91, CETME, M1A, etc). Common brand names are Glaser Safety Slug and Magsafe.
• Bystanders and Family: Practice with your firearm, especially in the configuration as you would use it for self defense. Mount a flashlight on your weapon, using ones specifically designed for such use. You must always identify your target before opening fire! If you add a laser sight you don't need to waste time aiming with the iron sights. Just put the laser dot on the target. This allows small rifles to work for self defense.
• Thieves: If you have concealed carry handgun install a handgun safe in your car. There will always be times when you have to leave your weapon behind in the car. Handguns are much more useful to criminals than rifles. Never the less keep rifles locked up when not in use! A simple sheet metal gun safe is around $200. It bolts to the floor to stop thieves and to not fall over. Keep a low profile when in public places. Having a NRA sticker or similar might draw attention from a creep who will follow you home.

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