Before the play date-gun talk

[AJMD429]

I was MORE afraid to have my toddlers visit a house where there were NO guns, because:

a) the parents would be more likely to be too ignorant to deal with one if a kid found one and toted it home.

b) the kids would not be safe around guns if and when they eventually came upon one.

c) the parents couldn't protect their and my kids if needed.

So - we avoided the "gun-free homes" for those reasons, plus those kinds of people are living in a naive dream-world and dependent on ignorance instead of information. I suppose the feeling was the same on their part, ironically.

 

[Tombs]

I've came across these kind of people before even in my own family.

They told me "we aren't comfortable with you carrying a gun around us or our kids."

And I'm not comfortable with a bunch of parents too drunk to walk, with toddlers present.

I can pretty well assure you, the type who wrote an article like this would fit squarely in with that bunch. It's really as simple as "I'm too lazy to be a parent, please raise my child for me."

 

[Bill of Rights]

We never asked when our daughter was young. It wasn't a question that occurred to us at the time. Had anyone asked us, they'd have found we had a shotgun. Loaded.

I'm actually astounded, looking back and realizing what we didn't know we didn't know.
I remember when she was little and how easy the Eddie Eagle rules would have been to have taught her. I regret the lost opportunities where I could have taught her how to safely handle and fire a gun and how to properly clear and safe an unknown gun as well. In the looking-back, I have to look up and give thanks that the situation never presented itself for her lack of knowledge to bite her in the backside.... or worse.

I would also like to say that I think avboiler11 had the best idea: Counterquestion: Do your kids know about how to act if they find a gun? If not, do you mind if I teach them? Here again, Eddie Eagle is the answer. Eddie is never shown with a gun. He just tells kids how to prevent an injury. It's not cool to touch and play with, it's just a gun. Kathy Jackson of Cornered Cat took the "belt and suspenders" approach. Kidproof the guns, but also gun-proof the kids: Teach them. We let our children into homes with sharp knives present, and have them in our own homes as well. How can this be and still be safe? Simple. From early youth, they see knives used all the time, safely. They get to practice, after a while, with butter knives and later, table knives, then eventually steak knives and finally, cooking knives, each progressively sharper and more dangerous than that before it. They learn under supervision how to handle a knife correctly.

Why are guns any different in peoples' minds?

Blessings,
Bill

 

[Colarmel]

Don't have kids, have lots of friends with kids under 5. If someone else's kids were going to be in my house, I'l let them know there were guns in my house, not that the kids would get anywhere near them, but frankly, it's a good CYA practice.

Even absent any legal consequences, I don't want anyone to learn about it later and feel deceived.

When I have kids, and they're old enough to shoot, I'll add their fingers to my safe. If they ever access that safe for anything other than a life or death emergency, there will be serious consequences, they will learn that first. My friend's kids will never see my weapon unless I've been asked to teach them firearm safety.

 

[88GT]

I would not be offended by such a conversation.

This. I won't change how we do things, and they can make their decisions accordingly, but I wouldn't be offended that they asked.

 

[CPT Nervous]

No kids, but I would never let any child of mine go anywhere where there aren't guns.