OT: Gun Rules

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  • Rebekahy
    Participant

    Does anyone know of a great website that’s got a list of RESPONSIBLE gun rules for kids?  I hate all the non-sense that’s going on with kids being expelled for throwing PRETEND grenades at public schools, our kids are being done a HUGE disservice by having childish behavior over-reacted to.  I know there are rules we’re taught in gun classes about treating guns ALWAYS as if they’re loaded, even if we KNOW they aren’t.  NEVER pointing a gun at anything we don’t want to put a hole in.

    What about for the kids though?  What should they do if they find a gun at a friend’s house?  What if a friend has a gun? 

    I’d love to see a REAL program or sensible rules from the NRA or similar…

    LindseyD
    Participant

    Rebekah, I don’t know where you can find an actual program teaching these things. I learned gun safety from my dad at a very young age. We had all kinds of guns in our home, and my dad and brothers were all avid hunters. I was shooting rifles and shotguns by the age of 8, and have never been afraid of guns because I know how to use them properly and respect them.

    Some of the important things my dad taught me:

    Treat every gun as if it were loaded, all the time.
    Always walk with the barrel pointed down. If walking w/ a rifle or shot gun, keep the ammo in the chamber, but keep the chamber open.
    Never point a gun at anyone, even if you know it is unloaded.
    There is nothing wrong with wanting to touch or handle a gun; just ask first.

    We have guns in our home, and my dh and I just took our CHL class. We have allowed our kids to hold, touch, and handle our guns, unloaded of course. If you treat a gun like it’s some holy grail that is never to be touched, I think it creates an insatiable curiosity in kids that makes them want to touch and handle it even more. This could potentially lead to a deadly situation, because we all know that if you dangle candy in front of a kid’s face long enough, they’ll eventually reach out and grab it. Same with guns in the house. We allow our kids to hold the guns under our supervision so that they satisfy that curiosity and also to gain proper respect for the gun. We even take our kids to the shooting range with us so they can hear, smell, and see the gun’s power, thereby giving them even more respect for it.

    My husband is not a hunter, so our guns in our home are for self-defense. We do not keep our guns in a locked cabinet. They are on a high shelf, and if our kids really wanted access to them, they would have to do a considerable amount of climbing to get to them. But, we have told our kids they are never to touch our guns under any circumstance without asking. When they ask, we always allow them to. We also keep our guns loaded, and our kids know this too. We have told them that they will die if they ever reach for our guns without asking for help. Does this put this fear of God into them? I sure hope so! We want them to have a healthy fear of guns, so that they don’t go trying to do something stupid. Having an unloaded gun is pointless because in the event of a break-in in the middle of the night, you may have only seconds to stop an attacker, and it takes more than seconds to load a gun.

    We don’t keep our guns a secret either. All of our friends know we have guns. No one has ever said they wouldn’t come over to our home because of our guns. It’s not like we get them out and have show-and-tell either. Wink My dh and I both carry in our vehicles, but no one needs to know this who’s riding with us. It’s not as if a child is ever going to be able to easily access my glove compartment. And even if they could, our guns are far too difficult to chamber, and of course, keep them loaded but not chambered. 

    As far as what I would do personally if one of my kids found a gun at a friend’s house, I would trust them to do exactly what they do at home. Don’t be dumb, walk out of the room where you found it, and go tell an adult what you found. Don’t touch it without asking for help first, and remember that it’s loaded and you’ll die if you do. (See, it’s that fear of God thing again.) Our children are never at a friend’s house without me present, so I doubt we will ever encounter this situation.

    And for a friend having a gun…I’m not sure. Do you mean, like a kid came over to play and had one in their backpack? Or what? I know my kids would probably run and tell me right away because they know that children shouldn’t have guns.

    If you have boys ages 9-16 (in TX, I think, anyway), you could see about enrolling them in a hunter’s safety course. Dad would have to go with them, but that class does teach gun safety, especially the rules about walking around with a gun and where to keep it pointed. Or you could take a CHL class and then teach your kids what you learned. Although the CHL class is more about the laws of carrying a concealed handgun and less about the safety of the gun. The instructors assume you already know gun safety and wouldn’t let you in the class unless you passed your shooting test first. You may even be able to find a locally owned gun shop (a Mom and Pop type is what we have here) where the owners would probably be more than happy to spend some time with your kids talking about gun safety. Or just you and your husband talking about guns in a normal, stress-free setting. 

    We never waited for our kids to find our guns or get caught touching our guns to talk about guns with our kids. We did it right away, brought the guns out, let them hold them and touch them, let them pull the trigger on an unloaded gun, showed them how to hold it safely. They watch dh cleaning the guns, watch us at the shooting range, go with us to the gun store. Guns are a part of our lives, and they get that. I think my kids are more afraid of what dh and I would do to them if they were caught touching our guns than of what the gun might do to them! And I hope it stays that way!

    Blessings,

    Lindsey 

     

    Misty
    Participant

    My sons have all been through the gun safety class for any age they don’t have a age limit other than no younger than 11 yrs.  This is the book they used and it’s very well put together you could easily use it and do it yourself.  Its from the Minnesota Department of Natural REsources Divison of Law Enforcement.  Hunter Education Youth Firearms Safety – Student manual and reference guide.  The number on the book is 1-888-646-6367  You could ask if you get one of these books?  They were a great resource and the kids did well on the tests and passed.  I use this in reference to guns at all times.  We have them for hunting purposes’ and think this was a well done program through our state for getting a lisence.  This is just my thought.  This might not be what you are looking though as it’s more rules etc.

    I think the – finding it at someone’s house that a parents discussion topic.  Anything other than the law is going to be what we as parents want our children to do if.. X happens or you see X at someones house.

    Good luck.  This is such an imporant thing to teach and I applaud you for taking the time to do it.  Good job Mama!

    Misty
    Participant

    Was writing with Lindsey and totally agree!  Nicely done!

    LindseyD
    Participant

    HAHA! Thanks, Misty! After I submitted my response, I thought, “Oh boy, these ladies are either going to love me or hate me now! I’ve totally given away that I’m a gun-totin, NRA-supportin, Texan Momma!”

    I appreciate that the first response after mine was supportive!

    Rebekahy
    Participant

    Girls that’s great advice!  Thanks.  I’m not worried about my own kids as we have taught them to treat guns with respect not fear.  I was kinda hoping for something that I can “pin” or “post” that is easy to reference for my friends that are teachers or those who send their kids to public schools. 

    I’m really concerned about the fear that we’re drilling into kids about guns – just more government indoctrination – if they can teach kids from the youngest ages to be afraid of guns then they won’t want to buy them when they become adults and they won’t care if the government passes laws saying you can’t own them…

    2flowerboys
    Participant

    Hey Lindsey..I wanna be a gun totin, NRA, Texan Momma too!! But so far we have a rifle and BB Gun..LOL! But wanting to get some more…and I live in GA 🙂

    You did a good job responding!

    Rebekahy
    Participant

    Aha!  Here’s KINDA what I was looking for, but a little more in depth and kid oriented.  http://pinterest.com/pin/23643966765661392/

    LindseyD
    Participant

    Oh Rebekah, don’t even get me started on our gov’t’s indoctrination about guns … or anything else for that matter! Thank God we homeschool! 

    Thanks, 2flowerboys! My dh had a handgun for a while that I couldn’t even chamber because I wasn’t strong enough! ha! I told him, “Babe, if someone breaks into the house that gun is useless to me because I can’t even cock it! Can we try to get me something that I can use?” Of course, that was all he needed to go gun shopping. Somehow my needing a girl-friendly gun turned into his buying not only that, but also 3 new shotguns! Go figure!

    Some may think this unpatriotic, but my husband often says he’s more Texan than he is American. Of course we love our country and would fight for it if necessary, but we’re so thankful we live in this homeschool-friendly, gun-totin’, conservative state!

    Doug Smith
    Keymaster

    We have told them that they will die if they ever reach for our guns without asking for help. Does this put this fear of God into them?

    Fear, maybe. God, no. You’ve lied to you kids in that statement and God cannot take part in a lie. (Not trying to be harsh or anything; just pointing out the Biblical truth.) At some point your kids may figure out that this is not true and it may put them at risk or diminish their trust in what you tell them.

    Something to think about.

    LindseyD
    Participant

    Doug, I see your point; however, we don’t actually tell our kids we’re putting “the fear of God” into them. I was using that as more of a statement to make a point than a literal statement. Honestly, I don’t think guns and God have a whole lot to do with each other; rather I was using it as an expression to the group to show how serious I am about my children and gun safety. Again, I was just using that phrase as a way to emphasize that we are trying to instill a healthy fear of guns into our kids. 

    As for “they will die if they ever reach for our guns without asking for help”, I obviously and erroneously used the wrong helping verb and it should say “they could die if they ever reach for our guns without asking for help”. Please pardon me for not proofreading my response before posting.  Embarassed We have explained about misfires and guns going off if they are dropped, and both of these scenarios could certainly kill or severely wound our kids. Or if the child reached for the gun by grabbing hold of the trigger and it shot off that way. This is our explanation now because they are not old enough or responsible enough yet to handle the guns without supervision, and won’t be for quite some time. It is not to lie to them or put them at risk; instead it is to help them understand that death is a real option if they choose to sneak off and allow their curiosity to get the best of them. As they get older, we will allow them to shoot and handle loaded guns, and at that point the message will come across that “now you can do this without injuring yourself or someone else, but you still need to be extremely cautious because death is always a possibility if guns are handled carelessly.” To me, it’s no different than telling a child that they could die if they cross the street without holding your hand. There is something to be said for a child having a healthy fear of crossing the street without supervision and help, because it is the truth: the child could die or be seriously injured if they do otherwise.

    Blessings!

    Doug Smith
    Keymaster

    The power of “could”. Wink

    Thanks for taking that with the grace it was intended.

    LindseyD
    Participant

    Indeed, Sir.

    Rebekahy
    Participant

    Lindsey – I figured you meant “could”!  But it’s a good clarification for people who do take things literally. 

     

    LindseyD
    Participant

    In my head, I thought “will”, so that’s what came out. Oops.

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 22 total)
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