Keep the guns and ammo inaccessible to children

[dom1104]

This isnt hard folks.

There are 2 guns out and about in our house.

1 is on me.

The other is in my wifes bra drawer in a handgun safe

The rest, are locked up in the BIG safe.

This keeps the guns away from 2 sets of people that have no business taking them.


1. Kids.
2. Theives

I dont see how this isnt a win / win.

I lock our other valuable possesions up when we leave the house, why wouldnt I lock up my very expensive guns as well?

My car isnt even worth $500 bucks, but I lock it in a parking lot.

My AR15 is worth 2K+, I would be stupid to just leave it out for anyone to just grab.

 

[revance]

Cornered Cat - Table of Contents


Keeping guns locked up is not enough. Just because YOU keep them locked up does not mean everyone else does. It doesn't mean a criminal running from the cops won't pitch their gun in a park to be found later by a child (it has happened).

You must teach your children about guns, teach them the Eddie Eagle Rules, the Four Rules, and above all... disarm their curiosity! Follow the instructions in the above website for doing that.

DOM1104: your comparison to drugs and cheap women is far from valid. I LET my children touch my guns. They have no reason to break the Eddie Eagle Rules because they know that anytime they ask me to see one of my guns, I ALWAYS let them (following safety rules of course). I don't make guns forbidden fruit.

 

[Bosshoss]

Kids these days sometimes don't learn that NO means NO.

Kids?
People know that smoking is not good for you and yet they still smoke.
People know that they shouldn't drink and drive and yet they do.
People know that what the speed limit is and yet they still speed and get tickets.
People who are overweight(me) know that we shouldn't eat as much as we do but we do.
Kids know that they shouldn't touch the gun but............

Some of the smartest and most educated people still do some of the above. They understand the consequences and still do it. Some of them live to do it again and again. (And some it kills)
Kids don't understand the consequences, even with training and disapline.
With a firearm and a kid they may not get a second chance.
Educate them and stress safety but no matter how much you teach them (and know them) remember people and kids still make bad decisions.
Keep them locked up.

edsinger not picking on your post I just used it as a setup.

 

[MerKWorK]

Just like everything else in life, it all starts with education and information. Do what you like past that, just don't try and make everyone else do the same!

 

[superjoe76]

I get the point of this thread, but once again you can substitute the word gun with any dangerous item in the house.

Keep (knives, tools, lighters, matches, needles, crack) inaccessible to children. If you are going to have dangerous objects in the house, an age appropriate level of education is needed, and until said little one is old enough to truly understand, keep them out of reach. The point of a HD weapon is to have it quickly accessible. Locked in a safe is not, on top of it is.

I have a two year old daughter that likes to sit with me when I clean my guns, but I wont let her touch anything, I dont want her to think its ok. I showed my boys 10 and 13 what guns can do via youtube and taught them to respect the power. They do!

 

[revance]

I have a two year old daughter that likes to sit with me when I clean my guns, but I wont let her touch anything, I dont want her to think its ok. I showed my boys 10 and 13 what guns can do via youtube and taught them to respect the power. They do!

You are creating forbidden fruit.

If your children know that you won't let them touch guns, suddenly they have a reason to disobey your instructions to never touch a gun if they find one. After all, that is the only way they will be able to satisfy their curiosity since you won't let them.

If you let your children touch the guns in a safe manner whenever they ask to, they will have no reason to disobey your orders to never touch a gun if they find one.

As people have already pointed out... people of all ages knowingly do dangerous things because they are curious or they want something. Showing them some videos of people blowing up watermelons with high power rifles isn't going to deter them from touching one if they get the chance. Showing them how dangerous they can be and ALSO letting them know that they can handle them safely with you anytime they ask will eliminate any reason for them to touch one if they find one.

Please read the link I posted above.

 

[.452browning]

I used to be able to leave my FNP45 in my bedside drawer and Remington 870 next to bed unlocked and loaded since there were no children. Now my 2 year old niece comes over every weekend so i went out and bought a Vault pistol safe. I can access the handgun as fast as just opening my drawer. Shotgun has been moved to inside the closet up on the shelf well out of reach. when she gets older i will change where it is kept and teach her what to do when she see's a gun. Now i dont have to worry about her running around the house finding something that can hurt her (other than doors, which she sometimes thinks she is translucent and came morph threw them)

 

[PistolBob]

Hey I have a Novel Concept....

How about Educating the Children in Your home about Firearms...

That's not going to keep a 4 or 5 or 6 year old from accidentally killing a sibling or even you. If the kid can't GET to the firearm in the first place then there won't be any problems.

Responsible gun owners know they don't have to lock up their guns, they just need to keep them inaccessible to little kids and stupid adults.

I take steps to keep my firearms out of reach when my grandchildren are here. It only takes a few minutes.

 

[PistolBob]

I like how people who obviously arent parents say "Educate your children about guns, they wont touch them".

What a NOVEL idea!

So if I educate my son about drugs, sex and loose women he wont touch them either!

Wow. And all these years the answer was on a internet message board

Dom...no kidding. I think a lot of gun owners don't have children, and aren't around children enough to know just how inquisitive they can be. It's not that difficult to secure your firearms when they are around, you just have to do it. Some don't and someone gets killed. Every time it happens, we gun owners are viewed as stupid idiots. And rightly so.

 

[jeremy]

Dom...no kidding. I think a lot of gun owners don't have children, and aren't around children enough to know just how inquisitive they can be. It's not that difficult to secure your firearms when they are around, you just have to do it. Some don't and someone gets killed. Every time it happens, we gun owners are viewed as stupid idiots. And rightly so.

Do you also lock up your Tools?!
Or how about your Car Keys?!
Or how about Matches and Lighters?!
Your Medications?!
How about the Cleaning Compounds?!

Why not?!

 

[JCAJR30]

Well, looks like this horse has been beaten to death. I agree with several contributors - and probably most in some fashion - educating our children is the key in my opinion. Mine are all teenagers at this point but when they were smaller I took them out to the back forty and we shot all variety of weapons- by the book - and I lectured them on all the Regs. But I still didn't leave my weapons lying around the house - they were in specific and strictly off limits positions in our house. they are still strategically placed in the house and my kids still know that I'll tan their hides if they invade my space. Disclaimer -- not stored where a kid under --- oh, say 7ish --- could easily reach.

 

[Sylvain]

Hey I have a Novel Concept....

How about Educating the Children in Your home about Firearms...

The problem is that you have to educate parents first to teach them to educate their children.
Not all parents have the common sense to do that.Especially if they are not gun owners they dont even think about it.
And many that are gun owners dont teach their kids.

 

[jeremy]

The problem is that you have to educate parents first to teach them to educate their children.
Not all parents have the common sense to do that.Especially if they are not gun owners they dont even think about it.
And many that are gun owners dont teach their kids.

Sounds like Darwin type of problem to me...

 

[JCAJR30]

regulation vs. freedom... manditory military service? That'll teach'em. How'bout, training certificate in order to purchase weapons?

Who's the comedian who did the skit entitled, "You can't fix stupid."? He nailed it!

 

[Sylvain]

Sounds like Darwin type of problem to me...

What can we do then when the parents are too stupid to teach their children since we cant fix stupid?

Maybe teaching the children in school could be a good start for those poor children who have stupid parents with no common sense.
I know the NRA has a gun safety programm for kids, not sure how many schools they reach.

 

[Principal Skinr]

You are creating forbidden fruit.

If your children know that you won't let them touch guns, suddenly they have a reason to disobey your instructions to never touch a gun if they find one. After all, that is the only way they will be able to satisfy their curiosity since you won't let them.

If you let your children touch the guns in a safe manner whenever they ask to, they will have no reason to disobey your orders to never touch a gun if they find one.

As people have already pointed out... people of all ages knowingly do dangerous things because they are curious or they want something. Showing them some videos of people blowing up watermelons with high power rifles isn't going to deter them from touching one if they get the chance. Showing them how dangerous they can be and ALSO letting them know that they can handle them safely with you anytime they ask will eliminate any reason for them to touch one if they find one.

Please read the link I posted above.

I doubt that would eliminate any reason for them to touch them. Maybe some kids, but not all.

I don't think there's any one perfect formula for everyone, but one thing is for sure. When they are properly locked up, it solves the problem of when you aren't there or aren't watching. I also don't see a problem with having some things your kids just simply don't touch, if that is the way they want to approach it.

Of course, with the "spanking cures everything" crowd, I guess it doesn't matter whether you let them touch them under supervised conditions, or not.

I knew a guy who handled guns all his life who blew a hole in his own shoulder while cleaning a firearm he thought was unloaded. He bled to death.

I don't second-guess those who want to play it extra safe, and you've got to look at your own kids to decide how to approach it. Like I said, I've got 9 kids, and the same approach doesn't work for all of them. One will take the spanking of a lifetime, and will go on and commit the same offense again. Another has never been spanked because she absolutely can't stand the thought of disappointing me or her mother, let alone the spanking itself.

While I believe they should be locked up, I don't call for any laws on the matter. However, whenever someone's kids kill themselves with an unlocked gun, it certainly moves us closer to legislation that hurts all gun owners. I'm sure the parents in these accident situations thought they knew pretty well before the accident. I feel terrible for them, and worse for their children.

 

[jeremy]

What can we do then when the parents are too stupid to teach their children since we cant fix stupid?

And why did we illegalize dueling?!

Maybe teaching the children in school could be a good start for those poor children who have stupid parents with no common sense.
I know the NRA has a gun safety programm for kids, not sure how many schools they reach.

Why not My School used to...

 

[Principal Skinr]

What can we do then when the parents are too stupid to teach their children since we cant fix stupid?

Maybe teaching the children in school could be a good start for those poor children who have stupid parents with no common sense.
I know the NRA has a gun safety programm for kids, not sure how many schools they reach.

Everyone's paranoia about school pretty much rules this out. I'd love to have a firearms safety program at our school, or even an after-school shooting club. Who wants to anty-up for the liability insurance? (Not to mention the liberal backlash!)

I had a really good student about 12 years ago, in 8th grade, whose buddy found a rusted out .22 revolver that looked like a Single Six. He traded a pair of sunglasses for it, and kept it in his locker all day. On the bus ride home, his buddy was playing with it and it fired, hitting him in the leg, severing an artery, and the bullet lodged in his femur, where it remains to this day. Both were good and smart kids. I wish we had a chance to teach them about firearms before that happened. Neither parent had guns in the home, so while I don't know if they taught them anything, I know they had no perceived reason to do so.

Funny thing, though. We DO teach archery during PE! I let the students shoot at targets with pictures of yours truly on it, and they loved it! The teachers spend a great deal of time on safe handling of the bows and arrows. We haven't had an accident in nearly 40 years of doing this.

 

[JCAJR30]

What works in one home might be construed by that family as "The" answer. You make a good point Skinr - I'd hate to find out that I was wrong after the fact.

On the other hand - if you need a gun, it's too late to load it... so, what to do?

NRA in the school sounds great to me - good luck getting on the agenda - where do I vote for that - sign me up.

 

[stilllearning09]

Our Elementary School did have the Eddie Eagle Program presented to all of the students. Information, provided by the NRA, was sent home prior to the presentation. Every parent I spoke with thought the program was a positive experience for their children.
Other elementary schools in our district sent representatives to see the presentation. I hope that every school will utilize it next year.