It’s a sad state of affairs that when we hear the term “gun safety,” many of us automatically roll our eyes. After all, the anti-gun jihadists have co-opted the term, as if heavy restrictions we know don’t work actually count as safety.

Yet in Dekalb County, Georgia, they’re using the term as it was originally intended to help after a senseless tragedy.

Officials with the DeKalb County Police Department Homicide and Assault Unit are investigating the Feb. 27 fatal shooting of 4-year-old Miyell Hernandez. According to officials, the preliminary investigation revealed that at approximately 5 p.m., Hernandez, along with his mother, an infant, and a 13-year-old relative arrived at a business located at 3045 Panola Road in DeKalb County. Upon arrival, Hernandez’s mother went into the business alone while the children remained in the vehicle. Shortly after, Hernandez accidentally shot himself with a gun inside the car, stated officials. The 13-year-old relative ran inside the business for help.

Hernandez was transported to a local hospital, where he later died. No charges have been filed, according to officials.

“Our hearts and thoughts go out to the Hernandez family,” said DeKalb Police Chief Mirtha Ramos. “We’re imploring gun owners to always keep their guns safe and secure.”

In response to the fatal shooting, officials said an event to educate gun owners is now in the planning stages.

At the event, scheduled for March 19, the DeKalb County Police Department will host a safety fair where free gun locks and safety tips will be available.

This is awful on so many levels, and truth be told, I doubt the parents were unaware of the dangers of leaving a gun where a small child could get to it. They likely just figured it wouldn’t happen to them.

Unfortunately, they figured wrong.

Still, there may be tips that other parents aren’t aware of that could benefit someone. Plus, this isn’t the chief trying to score political points by bashing gun ownership or gun owners. This looks like it’s legitimately about trying to make a difference.

In fact, who did the media quote about tips? They went to the NSSF’s ChildSafe website, not Giffords or Moms Demand Action.

That’s good news.

Look, no one wants to see this kind of thing happen. However, when it does, we need to make it an opportunity to educate the public on what they should and shouldn’t do with their firearms. We need to be proactive in making it clear that there are steps you can and should take to make sure this sort of thing doesn’t happen to you and yours.

We owe it to our children, society, and ourselves to try and step up.

After all, if we don’t, someone else will and they’re not going to care about our rights. They’ll try to make us into the bad guys and, if they get their way, the criminals. That won’t make things better, but they’ll pat themselves on the back because they’re “good people” for sticking it to gun owners.

It shouldn’t be that way, but it is and we have to deal with it. It’s also the right thing to do regardless of what some others might think.