So I found out last night that my friend does not keep his gun locked up and I got pretty argumentative about how stupid it is to have guns and ammo not locked up when you have kids in the house.

He seemed to think I was crazy for having my opinion that it is unsafe to have guns that are not locked up in the house.

His arguments were:
1) His kids can't reach it (they are on the top shelf of his closet).

I argued that that is silly and that my 3 year old could get to it pretty easily (he has a 3 year old and a 5 year old). He said that his kids do not climb on counters after I told him that my son would and could find a way to get to it (he said that because he knows that I let my kid climb on the counters). My honest opinion is that kids are smarter than we give them credit and if his kids wanted to reach the gun they would build a ladder and get to it.

2) He further stated that his kids are not strong enough to 'cock it' and load it.

I simply said,

 

I feel the same way as you. You can't be too safe with your kids.

 

proper education and parenting are key variables here.


I grew up with guns and never touched them until I was instructed to. the fear of death (and a severe ass-whipping) kept me from "playing with guns".

I am not even going to go into the pros and cons of locking guns.


this particular gun owner's defenses (in this case) are retarded and he probably should not have the guns in his house or own them at all if that is the level of his education about the situation at hand.

 

Growing up my dad had a gun but he kept the ammo seperate didn't know where the ammo was until I turned 15...by than I'd been hunting several times and been to the range with said gun several times,so I was aware of gun safety an control.

My pistol now is kept in a lock box and only I know where the key is at.


Your friend may be in for a shock one day when his kid accidentally shoots himself or a neighbors kid and he is sitting in jail.

 

gun laws about locking them (while necessary I guess in todays "take no responsibility in raising your kids properly" atmosphere) would not be needed if proper education dicipline and responsibility were instilled in our children.

Guns and children have survived together for hundreds of years. I wonder what sociological differences are present today that are so different concerning kids and guns?

 

 

My dad had several guns in his closet when I was grown up. None of them were locked up. During the summer, when my parents were at work, I would often sneak in and pull out the BB gun just for target practice. Never got the courage to sneak out the shotgun, rifles or pistols, though. Mostly because I figured I'd be more likely to be caught, either because my neighbors would report me or because my dad would be more likely to notice the missing ammo.

But, yeah... leaving a firearm unsecured in a house with children is a bad idea.

 

Kids are naturally curious creatures. They absorb a ton of information and tend to explore their surroundings. It's fine to have a 'don't touch the gun' rule, but we all know that not every kid follows all the rules. It's not like if little Johnny doesn't clean up his room he loses his PS3 for a few days - it has potentially fatal consequences, so I don't think you're overreacting. Instead of him telling you why your concerns aren't valid, perhaps he should explain to you why it's a GOOD idea to store his gun in this way. And if part of his argument has to do with an intruder threatening the safety of his family, perhaps instead of putting his family at further risk, he should just move to a safer part of town and stop being so paranoid.

 

I agree. I think he is being paranoid. Unfortunatley, I think he would be paranoid no matter where he lived.

To me the risk you take in wasting 10 seconds to unlock your gun if someone were breaking down your door is worth the peace of mind in knowing that your toddler isn't going to "show off" your gun and accidentally discharge the firearm (because he sees his Dad bragging about his gun all the time - I'm sure he might one day want to show off his daddy's gun).

I guess even if you lock the guns up.... kids can find the key. (But a key is easier to hide than a shotgun and pistol and amo.)

I think age has a lot to do with it. If we were talking about a 14 year old that knew the dangers of a gun and knew how to handle and properly shoot the gun.... that is one thing. But he has a 3 year old and a 5 year old.



I am getting the kind of response here I thought I would. No drastic opinion on either side so far. I think I am going to just agree to dis agree... and be cautious when I leave my kids with them.

 

So how did we all survive in the hundreds of years we had guns before there was a law to lock them up?

A gun used to be standard in just about any household, but back then parents were doing their job and not just trying to be friends with their kids.