Comments on: Super Scary…Other people’s guns and MY kid…what would you do?

By: Lucy

Lucy — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 17:34:06 +0000

We dont have guns in our home but teach our kids to be respectful. My husband has a lot of hunters in the family and the children are taught from a young age to respect guns. Plus they are always locked up in a safe. Sounds like this child might have easy access which is totally wrong in my opinion.
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By: Leane

Leane — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:55:21 +0000

Wow, so scary. I can see all sides, honestly. I think kids do need to know about guns. Like, really know about what guns can do to you. Even pretend play could possibly teach kids to stay away from the wrong end of one and how to handle one, but I also see where it could spiral out of control………….

My son is very young, so this will definitely stay on my mind over the next several years.
Leane´s last blog ..Win, What, Where?!? My Sentiment ExactLee

By: Melissa

Melissa — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:29:18 +0000

I’m leary about this too. My 4 year old son has always had a fascination with toy guns. I’ve tried my best to steer him from them but he always goes back to pretending other things are guns and has now started building them out of legos. My husband doesn’t feel that there’s anything wrong with toy guns because he used to play with them and he’s “turned out just fine”. I’m just not a fan and I have a hard time when my in-laws have a storm trooper gun (from my younger brother and sisters in law) that he and my 19 month old want to play with. It also doesn’t help when my mother in law pretends to die when “shot” by them… I’m not sure how to handle it because it seems that aside from my sister and her husband, I’m the odd duck out that doesn’t like guns. Everyone else seems to think there’s no issue but I’m uneasy.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 06:57:03 +0000

@Cat quote: @Sarah you don’t have to have a real gun to teach safety, a toy one would do the trick

It also wouldn’t hurt to take your older children to a gun range, show them what guns do, kids needs to see the consequences of gun use.”

I meant if I had a gun then talking more about them and gun safety would be a natural thing for me to do. But we don’t have guns so it wasn’t on my radar.

By: NanaTutu

NanaTutu — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 06:28:22 +0000

Guns were made to injure, mame or kill – either animals or humans (animals for need of food only and sadly to defend against life threatening other humans). I personally just can’t see anything “good” coming from them either way. Also it scares the daylights out of me that encouraging “play” with squirt guns or other toys, can send an unspoken message to the child that guns (and the violent act that comes with them – whether intentional or not, they were created to injure, or kill) can easily mis-intentionally encourage their use. Timing and age of the individual child and how you share the safety tips and information (or proper lessons in use like in a gun range etc.) are very important so as not to end up encouraging it. Any thing where violence can begin has never been tolerated in our home. No guns, we’d had a small rifle (from my husband’s childhood) in our home before the birth of our second child, our first child was around 3 yo. We kept it on the very top shelf of the closet in our room and our daughter never saw it. It was for emergency safety against any potential burglar and as such it was loaded with 2 bullets. One evening while I was in the kitchen with our daughter and my husband was changing out of his suit after work, there was a sudden loud explosive noise from the direction of my bedroom. The rifle had fallen from the shelf and gone off – shooting a hole in the closet door and mirror and narrowly missing my husband’s foot. It was a true wake up call and ever since NO guns – no good can come from them unless you need them for your legal work in which case you are a professional user. Yes, ask before sending your child to play at a friend’s house and then invite them to come play at your own house!

By: Susan (5 Minutes for Mom)

Susan (5 Minutes for Mom) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:54:54 +0000

Where I live in Canada, I don’t think I know a single person who owns a gun that they keep in the city. My father had guns for hunting when I was little and he kept them at our cabin in the wilderness.

I would freak if my kids’ friends had guns at their houses. Too scary!!!
Susan (5 Minutes for Mom)´s last blog ..Help Hungry Families Get Back To The Table

By: Maggie M

Maggie M — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:15:03 +0000

Right on, Sarah!
My son wasn’t big on guns as a little guy, nor are we. We did express to him our concerns about guns and other weapons and told him we would never permit any guns in the house. Later on when I started reading and hearing stories of children showing off a parent’s gun and some child getting killed, I made a point of asking other parents if there were any guns or lethal weapons in their home. If the answer was “yes”, their child was invited to come play at our house. Our son knew from a very early age that guns mame and kill, that they are not toys and to always report to us if he saw anyone flashing or showing off a gun-and-that he would be rewarded for telling us. I believe in better safe than sorry. The exception is kids of police officers and/or soldiers, who carry guns as part of their job and to protect the safety of others. In this event, I confirm that the guns are locked up in a safe and not-accessible to children. Curiosity didn’t just kill the cat:)

maggie@mannwieler.com

By: Renee

Renee — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:46:29 +0000

When I was young, I had a friend die in a gun safety class. No one knew the gun was loaded, and I think it malfunctioned when they were going over something. I’m not sure, and that isn’t the point. It was sad and scary, and real.

I am a firm believer in knowledge being power. If you are honest with your children about gun safety, I think it goes a long way. Teach them what you know about guns and gun safety. If you need help, ask if a police officer can talk to your children about it, or contact a local hunting club or gun range. They often provide safety classes that your children can participate in, talk to them one-on-one, and have recourses and information that can help you.
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By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:56:42 +0000

Matthew…exactly. It seems so odd when I say it out loud to myself… “Hey, before Cam comes over, do you have a gun?” and if they say yes…hmmm…what then.

Good thing is that I am friends with the parents of Cam’s friends so I feel like I’ll just have the convo with them sometime in a non confrontational setting, like while we watch the kids at the park or during a playdate when I am there.

I suppose if I don’t feel comfortable asking then why should I feel comfortable letting Cameron go to their house.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 02:25:04 +0000

What an odd question, “do you have a gun” never really thought about it until your brought it up. There are some horrific stories out there about kids finding guns and getting hurt in their houses.
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