Guns in the House

[palavra]

are you kidding- 10 year olds are in 6th grade---I think a 6th grade kid realizes when you kill someone that is it!!!
I only know one or 2 people that even own guns and they were houses my daughter was not permitted to go to-one was a cop but there was still a gun in the house and those were my rules.

I teach 6th grade and don't have any 10 year olds. My students are 11-12.
I also do think that some kids in the 10 year old range might have difficulty understanding the finality of death whether it be by gunshot or some other way.

 

[need2cruise]

The answer is obvious. No guns in homes with small children. Also I think 10+ guns in a home is a bit extreme.. it sounds like a militia.

Seriously? I'd prefer to TEACH my child about guns and gun safety vs hiding it from them. Then I can keep that gun in the house for protection when/if the time is ever needed.

I have researched guns and gun laws for awhile now. It's not guns that cause the problems with young kids. It's the parents who fail to do their job and teach them about guns, instead, they choose to keep it hidden and never tell little Johnny it's there. Then when little Johnny finds it, it's a novelty and he knows nothing about it because the parents failed to do their job. Same as if little Johnny goes to a friends house and his friend finds a gun.

It's no different than having all those chemical cleaners in your household. You teach your child they are poison and to stay away from it, then you take the extra precaution to store it but you still make sure they learn the safety about them prior to storing.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

The opinions on gun ownership in this country seem to boil down to cultural differences, but at this point, both sides have been yelling at each other for so long neither side wants to hear the other's view point.

If you come from a region or a background where guns are a useful tool and guns may be passed down through generations, you obviously have a different view point of guns from someone whose only exposure to guns is in news stories that are designed to elicit strong emotion.

Face it, in some environments, people are scared of guns because that's what they know of them. In some environments, people view guns as necessary.

On a side not, ecologically, if you removed all guns from all households, we'd have a nightmare on our hands. It's already getting really bad because there aren't enough hunters. The deer population is larger than its been in 70+ years and the hog population is just insane.

 

[MIGrandma]

The answer is obvious. No guns in homes with small children. Also I think 10+ guns in a home is a bit extreme.. it sounds like a militia.

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.

 

[mhsjax]

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.

I agree. I admit that years ago, I was opposed to guns, well actually terrified of them. Then one day about 25 years ago, I had some crazy man watching our apt, he noticed when DH would go to work, and he worked odd hours. One morning at 5:00 am, DH had just left for work, crazy man calls me and says I know your DH left for work, and then proceeded to tell me what he was going to do to me and would I like it. Well lets just say that after DH got home with his fathers gun, we went out and purchased one. I had never shot one and was in tears before I did. After I did shoot it, I was like Sarah Palin and her remark on her show, just "reload". I loved the feeling it gave me, knowing that I could blow this idiot away if I had to. Sorry if that is too much for some to handle, but when it comes down to ma and some cray man, well than I will do whatever it takes to defend myself, and I felt darn good about it to.

 

[136368]

Perhaps the message has strayed somewhat. I think the underlying message is that people should and must secure their firearms where there is a risk that they might be misused. In the case of the mentally challenged ten year old child, this in particular hits home true. All the parents need do is ensure that their firearms are, say, in a safe with key and locks.

 

[shortbun]

I think this 10yo 'owned' this gun and kept it in his room. He also had ammunition in his room. If a 10yo is given a weapon by his grandfather it should be locked in a gun safe, and the ammo should be kept locked somewhere else with strict rules about only using that weapon with an adult supervising. Perhaps even locked up with the caveat that the child could use it someday when he was older. These people just had no sense of what to do with this weapon. I wish there was a way to educate or require that guns be stored safely.

 

[Muushka]

International standards are in place to ensure that manufacturers comply with specific standards for both the safety of the products, and of the workers. Assurance that manufacturers comply is enhanced by inspections by independent authorities, paid for by the manufacturers themselves. The manufacturers, as part of asserting their right to manufacture those products, agree thereby to give such inspectors full access, even though otherwise they would not be required to allow such access.

I have only had 1 cup of coffee. Exactly what are you saying?

Giving a disturbed 10 year old a weapon with ammunition says more about a parenting problem than gun ownership problems.

 

[luvwinnie]

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

um, they didn't just "have a gun in the house"...this gun was BOUGHT for him and he apparently had full access to it.

 

[Hercules10]

The foolish part was giving a firearm (of any type) to a 10 y/o without any education or restrictions. It's not a toy.

 

[SaraJayne]

are you kidding- 10 year olds are in 6th grade---I think a 6th grade kid realizes when you kill someone that is it!!!
I only know one or 2 people that even own guns and they were houses my daughter was not permitted to go to-one was a cop but there was still a gun in the house and those were my rules.

Ten year olds are in 4th-5th grade, not sixth.

We have guns and children. The two aren't mutally exclusive.

 

[princesshannahsmom]

Guns don't kill people. People kill people.

Yes, THIS.

And as far as the "militia" comment. ARE YOU SERIOUS? We own 13 guns. We are the farthest thing from a "militia"! Some of the guns we own have been passed down for generations. Some, we bought on our own. Both DH and I have carry permits (and we take full advantage of them when we feel the need). Our guns are in a key locked, combination locked gun safe. Ammunition is in a completely separate safe, also key locked and combination locked. DH and I are the ONLY ones who know the combination and we are the ONLY ones with a key to either safe. DD, who just turned 11 is the "owner" of two of those guns. "Her" guns are locked in the same safe as ours. DD has taken a gun safety course, she shoots at the range and on a hunting lease (we don't hunt, we are only family members of the lessee). She knows how to load, shoot, reload, and clean and take apart her two guns. She also knows, if she shoots someone or something, it means death and she KNOWS death is final, she has known this since she was very little.

We also each own a compound bow. The arrows are kept in the safe with the guns, but the bows are kept in a closet on a shelf.

To make such a broad, blanketed statement shows a person's lack of gun safety education and is the reason we, as Americans are losing so many of our rights. People refuse to educate themselves and then, hear a news story, such as this (which is intended to invoke high emotions), and instantly blanket the nation with the idea that somehow blanketing the entire nation with ones belief (based on a tragic news story) is the answer.

Myself and DD have NEVER shot a human or an animal with either our guns or our bows, but if the need arose, BOTH of us would know the PROPER way to use BOTH items. And, quite frankly, that makes me feel safe and secure.

Everyone has a right to their own opinion. And while stories such as these are tragic, taking the right to bear arms away is NOT the answer. Taking guns out of homes with children is also NOT the answer. Education is the answer.

 

[shirleyb]

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.

 

[mom2rb]

My dad gave my boys and my nephew guns for Christmas. Since my brother and I don't have gun safes, they are kept at my dad's house. He is teaching them to shoot. He has the land and the experience to train them correctly. He taught me when I was younger but I have no desire to own one. I have no problem with guns in the house, most of my family has them. I just want them to be properly stored.

 

[Inigo]

Yep, that's me, a militia:

I'm not going to tell her how many I have since she thinks your 10 guns make you a militia! I'll just say I have two large full gun safes.

The problem with this killing is some idiot gave a child with behavioral problems guns to keep in his bedroom, and seems to not have thought about any issues with safety.

By 10, both my kids knew how to shoot, and how to shoot well. But they didn't have the guns hanging in their bedrooms.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

He was 10 and I don't think many 10 year olds understand the finality of shooting a gun at someone.

Wow. I have basically no respect for the intelligence of mankind, but this is going a bit far. I was in 4-5th grade as a ten year old. I was taught long division, dissected fish and learned all about the revolutionary and civil wars (where there was a surprising amount of people dying from being shot). If we expect children to be able to understand these things I do not see how we could not expect them to understand that shooting someone will hurt them. Now, you could perhaps say that they think they'll only 'hurt' the person and not kill them, but (1) why would we give a child credit for only wanting to hurt someone and (2) that excuse does not hold up in court for murderers of any age.

The answer is obvious. No guns in homes with small children.

As a legally minded person, the concept of how you would enforce the rule of having no guns in homes with small children is boggling me. You're a hunter and your wife gets pregnant? Ooh sorry, we're gonna have to take those from you. You'll get them back when junior turns 18, provided you don't have any other spawn in the meantime, of course. No, at least saying no guns period ever would be something that could be conceptually enforced...by a military allowed weaponry, of course.

Also I think 10+ guns in a home is a bit extreme.. it sounds like a militia.

My father has something upwards of 30 guns in his house. My father is not a hunter. He is not a militia member. He believes in personal protection and has a CCW, but this is not why he has guns (well, not the only reason). He is a collector. Some he has and will never fire (it would cause them to lose value). Some are relics inherited from relatives. Some are things he actually enjoys using for target practice. He keeps many locked in a safe, and many others locked up in other manners, but this is not to prevent anyone from using them. It is to prevent them from getting stolen in the event his house is broken into. Some people fly fish. Some people juggle geese. My dad, amongst his other hobbies, has guns.

It's not guns that cause the problems with young kids. It's the parents who fail to do their job and teach them about guns, instead, they choose to keep it hidden and never tell little Johnny it's there. Then when little Johnny finds it, it's a novelty and he knows nothing about it because the parents failed to do their job. Same as if little Johnny goes to a friends house and his friend finds a gun.

Aside from the numerous guns my father kept protected for insurance reasons, there were many guns located throughout our house. These were handguns, for the most part, kept loaded or close to a speed loader. There is no point in keeping a gun for protection if you do not keep it close to hand and loaded. One was in my dad's bedside drawer, another in my mom's walk in closet, others elsewhere. Sometimes, the guns would be left out if my dad were cleaning them or taking them to the shooting range. I knew where they were. I touched them. Heck, I even fired them under my dad's close supervision in a safe place. Never would I have been so stupid as to mistake a real gun for a toy. I was told from day 1 that they were dangerous. I was told to always assume that a gun is loaded. I was shown what guns could do. You want to make a kid wary of guns? Show him what an AK-47 can do to a target in a few seconds time. By the time I was 10 I had my first BB gun (2 actually, my grandpa gave me one too). By the time I was 12 I had my first rifle. I knew how to handle them, and how not to. If any of my friends had picked up a gun at their own house, I would have told them to put it back immediately because there were no adults there to supervise.

I'm not advocating that everyone raise their child this way (especially if they are special needs), but I do think having training is better than just not having guns as a blanket prohibition. Would any of us say we shouldn't have knives because some parents are too stupid or lazy to tell kid's they're sharp? No stoves because people can get burned and houses go up in flames? No food because some parents won't force their kids to chew properly? I'm sorry, but if you don't teach kids these basics of life, then you are to blame for anything that happens to them as a result. Same with guns. If you don't teach your kids about them (regardless of whether you keep them in the house or not) you're responsible for them getting injured by a gun that they or their foolish little friends wield.

 

[bicker]

Are you proposing that the government takes away yet another one of our freedoms?

Assurance that something is being done safely does not take away the right to do that thing. I spent half of my first career doing assurance work, and I can attest to that first-hand. Rather, assurance ensures that everyone's rights are protected, not just one person's. It's pretty craven to deny the value of ensuring that people (obviously "other" people) aren't being irresponsible, especially when so many of you have defined what it means to be responsible. "They" are giving "you" a bad name - you should want measures put in place to ensure "they" are stopped.

 

[Tikitoi]

Guns don't kill people. People kill people.

So cliche

 

[Magpie]

Seriously? I'd prefer to TEACH my child about guns and gun safety vs hiding it from them. Then I can keep that gun in the house for protection when/if the time is ever needed.

I have researched guns and gun laws for awhile now. It's not guns that cause the problems with young kids. It's the parents who fail to do their job and teach them about guns, instead, they choose to keep it hidden and never tell little Johnny it's there. Then when little Johnny finds it, it's a novelty and he knows nothing about it because the parents failed to do their job. Same as if little Johnny goes to a friends house and his friend finds a gun.

It's no different than having all those chemical cleaners in your household. You teach your child they are poison and to stay away from it, then you take the extra precaution to store it but you still make sure they learn the safety about them prior to storing.

I enjoyed learning to shoot in the Canadian military. I have nothing against guns. But I do disagree that you can educate young children to be safe with guns.

I saw a news documentary a few years ago that attempted to test that idea. A number of young children (6yos) were given a gun safety course with an emphasis on the dangers and the proper thing to do if you ever saw a gun lying out in the open. It was a course used in many American schools. The children practiced running to tell an adult.

Another group of young children were told nothing at all about guns.

The parents of the "educated" group confidently told the investigators that their children would never touch a gun.

What they found, when they allowed the children into a playroom with a gun lying on a table nearby, was that the "educated" children all noticed the gun right away and immediately picked it up. Some took it to an adult, some started to investigate it, a couple deliberately hid the gun, and ONE boy pointed it at his friend and pulled the trigger!

Of the kids who'd had no course, some didn't notice the gun at all, some went to tell an adult, and only a handful actually picked it up. They had a far better track record than the "educated" group.

It was pretty shocking. I don't think young children have any business being around guns. I had a friend in the American military who not only put his guns in a safe - he put the safe behind a hidden wall in his den. His son wasn't getting anywhere near them. As for me, I don't recall making any special efforts to teach my children not to drink chemical cleaners - I just didn't have anything particularly poisonous in the house!

Just for fun, though, here's an ad from 1904!

 

[AKL_Megs]

We have DOZENS of guns in our house. My husband collects handguns, as well as knives, which we also have dozens of.

When our child is old enough to toddle around the house, the guns will be locked up with gun locks and put away in a safe with the knives.

Go to ANY police station and you can get as many gun locks as you need for FREE. The problem isn't guns, it's owners who don't take the proper precautions.