Guns in the House

[Jennasis]

This story is about irresponsible parenting.

The kid should never have had access to the gun. Responsible parents who have guns keep them locked up. They aren't toys.

 

[DisneyJonesGirl]

That story is absolutely bananas! Thats so sad, and it scaresme that he even had a loaded gun,threatened his mom, and knew what to do with it, just awful

 

[mamacatnv]

I read the article - the Grandmother said he had issues......but does he?
The sister said the boy was arguing with his mother over a chore.

IMO based on the very limited information, I would say the child probably did not have a true understanding of the outcome/permanence of his actions and the consequences that came with the action.

The person at fault here is the idiot who allowed a 10 year old to have a shotgun and ammunition in his bedroom - that is just stupid! That shotgun would never have entered my house without having a safety lock or safe to accompany it and the ammo would not have been accessible to the child at all. Just stupid, once again, its not guns that hurt people its the stupid humans with guns that cause the problems.

I live in a gun friendly state. Heck you don't build/buy a house without consider the placement of the gun safe!
Gun/hunter safety is a big deal and the annual family hunting week is an "excused" absence from school. Most of my friends and neighbors have guns with safes, locks etc. I know this because, being from California, I ask I've asked every new neighbor and every friend that my kids have had in the past 20 years.
"Do you own guns?" and if they do "How do you store them" "who has access" etc...... Most of my friends have CCW's, heck my DS is working on his as I type this, first thing he did when he turned 21.
In all the years I have lived here in NV (18) I have only met one "nightstand" family and thankfully we moved shortly after learning of their bad gun habits. We did not allow DS anywhere near their house or their kids. The Dad was a loose cannon.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

Living in the very liberal Portland metro area, it's a dime a dozen to find guns in houses. In our house however, there are 13. I'm not sure why there are so many but DFiance loves them and we both love to shoot (but we don't hunt). We don't even have children but we still lock them up in a safe that only the two of us know and it'll most likely remain that way.

I still remember that news story a few years ago when a couple was attacked and nearly killed, and what saved them was the gun they had in their house. I think that was in WV or something. Would they have been killed?, you can't know for sure. But I'm not willing to take that chance. Plus, shooting clay pigeons is really fun.

This story, however, to me is more about the lack of responsibility on the parents part than anything else.

 

[pilesoflaundry]

I don't think you have to say no weapons period in a home with children. If a child wants to kill themselvers or someone else, it doesn't take a gun.

Do not give 10 year olds guns for christmas is probably a better idea. Particullarly ones the grandma describes as "bad". He is obviously off if he killed his mother because she asked him to bring something inside. That is a bit more than he has some problems.

 

[136368]

Guns don't kill people. People kill people.

Unless the gun in question is some sort of cyborg.

[/disturbing thought]

 

[GeorgeG]

Before moving to Florida I downsized my gun collection in a big way. After decades of being an avid hunter I had already lost interest in hunting. When I mentioned to some people that I had given some to my grandson they thought I was crazy and a terrible grandfather. I showed them a photo of my grandson standing next to a Hum-Vee with a machine gun on the roof, a 9mm pistol on his hip and a SAW (light machine gun) laying across a sandbag.

Unfortunately, the knee-jerk reaction to what is perceived as a gun problem is to want to ban guns or at least legislate them to death. What we have, in reality, is a behavior problem in this country and that's not so easy to control. Murder, armed robbery and other violent crimes are already illegal so we have to suspect there are hidden agendas in controlling gun ownership. Forget any laws, we have a moral responsibility to make sure our guns stay out of the wrong hands. Is that always possible? No, but we can't guarantee drunks won't drive cars.

I am curious, though. Do those of you who refuse to let your kids visit a home where there are guns, do you actually question your friends and neighbors or pull surprise inspections? Most people I know who have guns keep them secure and you could know them for years without never knowing they have guns.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Seriously?

DH has several guns/pistols, I really have no idea how many. He has a huge gun safe where they are stored, only he and I know the combination and he has even gone a step further and uses the key to lock it and he has the key so even if I want into the safe myself (we store valuables in it as well) I have to get him to open it.

Guns don't kill people. People kill people.

You say no guns in homes with small children, what about knives? If someone wants to kill someone they can use an ordinary steak knife to do it.

It's the mentality of people like yourself that is one of the main reasons my DH keeps buying guns. He carries one all the time, and I am thinking about getting my own permit to carry as well. So many crazies in the world now, it's good to have protection of your own. And we spend the better part of our summer in a wilderness area so it's good to have protection then too.

Wow, this is a little harsh, don't you think? Because I may not agree with your gun ownership, you think your husband needs to continue to buy weapons because I'm crazy and need to be shot at? I'm sure I've taken that out of context, but the way you wrote it just left me .

Here are two things that bother me. (1) if you have guns for personal safety, and they are always locked up nice and tight, how will you get to them if someone breaks into your house? Make them a cup of coffee and ask them to hang on a minute while you open your gun safe? and (2) what if someone has gun permits and owns guns and doesn't store them safely? What is your recourse as a member of the household?

Finally, you may be teaching your children gun safety, but what about when a friend comes over who is being raised in an entirely different environment? It might not be so safe for your family when that child is around because he might be curious.

 

[Anjelica]

This is why you don't keep guns in the house when you have children.

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/01/04/o...ree-at-21/?icid=main|aim|dl1|sec1_lnk1|193528

Oh please - one moron/disturbed child kills his mother with a gun and now we have folks preaching from the enlightened pedestal. What if he had killed his mother with a butcher's knife instead? Would your opening statement be "This is why you don't keep butcher knives in the house when you have children".

Just because someone made an idiotic decision (guardians allowing a 10 year old access to a shotgun and ammunition ) doesn't mean the rest of us are idiots.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Even if there were no guns in the house, this kid would have found some other way to kill him Mom.

 

[Anjelica]

Wow, this is a little harsh, don't you think? Because I may not agree with your gun ownership, you think your husband needs to continue to buy weapons because I'm crazy and need to be shot at? I'm sure I've taken that out of context, but the way you wrote it just left me .

Here are two things that bother me. (1) if you have guns for personal safety, and they are always locked up nice and tight, how will you get to them if someone breaks into your house? Make them a cup of coffee and ask them to hang on a minute while you open your gun safe? and (2) what if someone has gun permits and owns guns and doesn't store them safely? What is your recourse as a member of the household?

Finally, you may be teaching your children gun safety, but what about when a friend comes over who is being raised in an entirely different environment? It might not be so safe for your family when that child is around because he might be curious.

Takes me less than 30 seconds to get my gun out of my safe. This is second story master bedroom area I am talking about. We also have an alarm system so in my mind if someone sets off the alarm and continues to head up my stairs they have no intention of sitting down and drinking a cup of coffee with me.

 

[mamacatnv]

I am curious, though. Do those of you who refuse to let your kids visit a home where there are guns, do you actually question your friends and neighbors or pull surprise inspections? Most people I know who have guns keep them secure and you could know them for years without never knowing they have guns.

I don't refuse to let my kids visit the homes of responsible gun owners, heck if I did that they would have no one to visit.
I do however ask how the guns are kept and like I said in the 18 years we have lived here only one time have I met an idiot gun owner.

 

[penn19]

I grew up in a house with guns, my husband grew up in a house with guns, and my children have grown up in a house with guns.

We were all taught you don't touch the gun. And guess what, we didn't.

When I was growing up, my dad's guns were just sitting in his closet, and none of us ever even thought to touch them without his permission.

I am not a big fan of guns personally, but this was how I grew up also. I KNEW there were guns in the house. My Dad had them from when he was in the War, and also others that he had picked up along the way I guess. I don't know that I ever saw him with the guns or that he fired them. But my brothers and sisters and I all knew even though they were kind of accessible my Dad would kill us with his bare hands if we touched them! Were taught to respect them.

 

[JessicaR]

I grew up with two siblings with a dad that was a Police Officer. He also happened to be the Armorer. We had friends in and out, neighbors, and family. Not an issue not a one. Respect for the weapons was taught very early.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Takes me less than 30 seconds to get my gun out of my safe. This is second story master bedroom area I am talking about. We also have an alarm system so in my mind if someone sets off the alarm and continues to head up my stairs they have no intention of sitting down and drinking a cup of coffee with me.

I guess I look at things differently. 30 seconds is a long time when someone is breaking into your house and you're startled awake by a noise from a dead sleep. I would be concerned that the noise that wakes you could be the sound of your husband or children. I also live in an apartment, so there isn't much time between getting through the door and getting to me.

Again, what do you do when you have a family member who doesn't follow the safety procedures? Call the cops on them? I think some people "some -- NOT all" feel that their right to bear arms supercedes the rights of others and the whole world can go to **ll because the Constitution says they have that right and they don't need to consider anyone else.

Yes, I'm against gun ownership IN MY HOUSE. If it works for you, great. I just don't see the need to tempt fate anymore than is necessary. Just because someone passes a background check does not mean that they should be owning handguns. Too many people with depression, alcoholism, drug addiction that should not own guns.

 

[Mrs. Charming]

No. This is why you don't keep unsecured guns in the house with children who have demonstrated that they have behavioral issues.
The mother is just as much at fault here as the child. To allow him access to a firearm and its ammunition was, IMO, more than just a little irresponsible on her part.

Yep. This. Exactly.

 

[bicker]

Oh please - one moron/disturbed child kills his mother with a gun and now we have folks preaching from the enlightened pedestal.

There has only been one incident where a child killed someone because a parent failed to apply adequate measure to prevent that? Only one? Are you sure? I'm confident that I've heard of other incidents. This is not an isolated circumstance, and I don't understand why you would think that it was.

Just because someone made an idiotic decision (guardians allowing a 10 year old access to a shotgun and ammunition ) doesn't mean the rest of us are idiots.

I agree, so what's necessary is a way of telling the two groups apart, one from another, and ensuring, on an ongoing basis, that people in the "responsible" remain in that group and don't drift into the other group.

 

[mamacatnv]

It's the mentality of people like yourself that is one of the main reasons my DH keeps buying guns. He carries one all the time, and I am thinking about getting my own permit to carry as well.

Wow, this is a little harsh, don't you think? Because I may not agree with your gun ownership, you think your husband needs to continue to buy weapons because I'm crazy and need to be shot at? I'm sure I've taken that out of context, but the way you wrote it just left me .

Just to throw a different perception on MIGrandma's statement.
I took it to mean that because so many people are afraid of guns for a myriad of reasons, many states are moving to control how many, what kind etc. that people can own. Gun enthusiasts are worried they won't be able to obtain guns in the future and are getting them now, while they still can.

 

[Anjelica]

There has only been one incident where a child killed someone because a parent failed to apply adequate measure to prevent that? Only one? Are you sure? I'm confident that I've heard of other incidents. This is not an isolated circumstance, and I don't understand why you would think that it was.

I agree, so what's necessary is a way of telling the two groups apart, one from another, and ensuring, on an ongoing basis, that people in the "responsible" remain in that group and don't drift into the other group.

I should have stated a instead of one. I am very clearly aware of how guns which have not been stored properly and/or a child not being taught proper gun safety, etc. have resulted in a child killing someone with said gun(s). My point was taking one article of how there was clearly a lack of parental supervision and brushing the entire population with that lack of parental supervision is irresponsible.

As far as telling the two groups apart - well I think we as a human race have, for the most part, failed ourselves when it comes to telling the two groups apart. In most other species the "morons" die out or become scarce due to their lack of survival skills or in the above forementioned article - lack of common sense.

 

[bicker]

Unfortunately, in this case, the "morons" (as you put it) end up causing other folks to "die out", and often do so from a distance. That's two fundamental aspects that make this scenario very unique.