Guns and Children - Safety and Education

[allingeneral]

I want to get a discussion going concerning the presence of children in a house with guns. There are a myriad of positions on this topic from the far left to the far right. I will attempt to outline my view on two angles and let the discussion go from there. My two angles are Education and Fear/Paranoia.

Education
I am of the opinion that my children not only need to know that there are guns in our house, but that they also need to be educated with regard to the respect that a gun must be shown. Unload the gun and present it to them. Explain the basic things that they should know about handling a gun, i.e.: Don't ever point at anything you don't intend to shoot; Keep your finger outside the trigger guard unless you are in a firing position; Always assume that a gun is loaded and treat it as such; etc. Take your kids to the range and familiarize them with how to hold and fire a gun. If you have a place on your property with enough area that you can take them outside to shoot, that's even better!

Fear/Paranoia
Fear of children's safety and paranoia are keywords for the Gun Control crowd, and they are well founded in some cases - especially when parents own a gun and feel the need to hide it from their children and never educate them about it. You can guarantee that if you own a gun and you keep it hidden, your kids will find it, and if you haven't educated your children about the dangers and proper uses of a firearm, then they will be curious and this is when accidents happen. Gun Control advocates want child safety trigger locks and gun cabinets built like vaults for all of your firearms. This is not a prudent way to address the situation since the whole purpose for having a gun is for personal protection and the protection of your family. I would like to see you ask an intruder standing at your bedroom door at 3am "Mr. Intruder - please stand there for a minute while I get the key to unlock the trigger on my Glock". Now, if you have 8 rifles, 6 shotguns and 12 handguns in your house, it probably wouldn't hurt to lock a few of them them in a gun safe to keep them from being stolen and put a few trigger locks in place, but locking the defense weapon goes against all sane rules of gun ownership.

What say you?

[VBshooter]

I am for the education method , My brother and I were raised that way and never had issues with firearms at any point in our lives ,, My father kept hunting rifles and shotguns in his closet and a handgun in the dresser drawer, We were both taught to respect them and also how to use them, If we messed up the old man straightened us out real fast,, We never messed with them,, As we grew up we both received guns of our own at different milestones in age,,, BB gun, Pellet Rifles, .22, shotgun ,, etc: The main thing in my mind is we were allowed to particiapate in the gun use and ownership of them only after a thorough education from Dad and when we proved we were ready he allowed us to own our own guns and be responsible for our own actions ,I was fortunate enough to be raised in the country where guns were second nature to just about everybody,,

[Vahunter]

By the time my two daughters were teenagers they were safer to be with than a lot of adults around guns. Both grew up with a desire to shoot and one took up hunting. Now I'm working on the grandkids.

[OakRidgeStars]

It sounds like my experiences growing up are a lot like VBShooter & VAhunter. Both of my parents were avid shooters, and taught me respect for them as well as firearms from a very young age. I wish there were more parents that would take a proactive approach to firearm safety in the home, instead of leaving the job to TV, movies and the internet. I have a hard time believing that a young mind is capable of discerning the reality of firearm safety from the make believe world of shoot 'em up video games.

Any parent that can overcome all of these elements fighting for their child's attention deserves a medal.

[Riana]

I wish there were more parents that would take a proactive approach to firearm safety in the home, instead of leaving the job to TV, movies and the internet.

Amen to that. More parents do need to take a more proactive approach, not just to firearms, but to life in general. Too many people rely on schools and society to do their job for them, IMO.

I did not grow up around guns (my parents never had one in the house, as far as I knew). It wasn't until a few years ago that I got interested, and only a year ago when I bought my first one. My husband had a 22 rifle in the house, and I knew how to use it, but never did (of course, we were in California at the time).

My goal with our son is to make sure he understands the basic safety rules, and knows that guns are not toys. He's shot a couple of the 22's, including the handguns, but I expect it will be a few years before one of us doesn't have a hand on him and/or the gun while he fires.

[Vahunter]

I wish there were more parents that would take a proactive approach to firearm safety in the home, instead of leaving the job to TV, movies and the internet.

Amen to that. More parents do need to take a more proactive approach, not just to firearms, but to life in general. Too many people rely on schools and society to do their job for them, IMO.

I agree. I have a 20year old that works for me that was home schooled. I have nothing against home schooling but this kid knows nothing about the real world, he's lead a sheltered life. With the kind of dangerous work we do he's getting a wake up call about reality. Yes people need to teach their kids about what awaits them in the real world.

[allingeneral]

Too many people rely on schools and society to do their job for them

The fact that this has gone for so long unchecked is the reason that the school feels the need to send home papers every week for me to sign that say "I am this child's parent and I understand that he or she has a homework assignment due on this day".

The schools are just making it worse by sending this crap home for me to sign. I'm responsible for and with my kids. I don't need the school enforcing signatories on me that really don't mean anything anyway. This teaches my kids that it's not their responsibility to get their work done - it's MINE.

It drives me crazy, really. I impress upon my kids all the time that my signature doesn't mean anything in this context and that they need to be responsible for their own homework.

</rant> (You struck a nerve) lol

[gfost1]

Howdy, Y'all. Good topic.

My dad keeps a shotgun in his closet. I'm not sure if i've ever seen it out of the case. He took my brother and I plinking once in a while when we were kids, and we both got more exposure to shooting from the boy scouts.

I'm all for education, but I have to admit that none of my kids has ever seen my guns. Our guns and ammo are locked in a safe in the barn under a pile of stuff. I haven't carried since before the last time I reupped my permit. We have had four kids born starting in '97, so there has been at least one toddler in the house ever since. I know it sounds lazy, but it is just easier not to have my guns in the house, and I'm not worried about the kids getting ahold of them.

I have been thinking that it is time to start dealing with gun safety, Eddie Eagle style, for the oldest three, maybe even take them shooting if they are interested. I'm not sure how to approach the subject. They need to know enough to know what to do if they find themselves in a "kids-playing-with-guns" scenario, but I also hope they will adopt the pro-gun culture into their own lifestyle. (I hate the way that sounds, but I don't know how else to put it)

Regards,

George

[fiasconva]

Education is the key. However, whenever the grandkids are around the guns are locked up. My granddaughter would never touch any of my guns because she was told not to. However, my grandson would have a perfectly logical explanation as to why he needed to pick up the guns and check them out. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree...

[Bob]

When I was growing up guns where just a part of our lives, just like a fishing pole or any other tool, we never thought much about them. I knew enough not to mess with them unless a adult was with me, I also knew enough not to mess with a power saw or a grinder too, but we never had them locked up they where just there.

I didn't know anyone that did not hunt or fish, it was just something you did. Things where a lot different in the 40's and 50's, I remember as a young kid, maybe 12 or 13 going to the hardware store and buying a box of 22 shorts, today that kid would be arrested.

I showed my daughter how to shoot a 22 rifle when she was around 10 or 11 years old. I think it was a good thing, she is in her 40's now and still shoots when she comes to visit and she still has that rifle.

You can't go wrong with education.