Are toy weapons toys of war?

I think guns are certainly a big issue when children are in the house. My father's were kept in a safe, with only one kept out and hidden for easier access (in a place us kids didn't even know about, let alone be able to reach if we did). That paticular gun saved us a few times, once from our car being stolen, and another time when someone tried to enter our house through the basement window late one night. My father NEVER had to point his gun at a person, and his general rule is to NEVER point a gun at a person unless you do intend to shoot it. Brandishing the weapon always proved to be enough. Of course, we lived in a very low-income and crime (and drug) plagued area (our house had been cleaned out twice, my mother came home to people in the house once - they didn't even find the gun though) and there is far less a reason to keep loaded weapons out of a safe (if you have them at all) when you are in the middle of suburbia.

 

You clearly say here "as the NRA and other 2nd Amendment nuts say". Well I am a member of the NRA and a 2nd Amendment nut as matter of a fact I am a nut about all of our admendments. I would never have a gun accessible to my children and have never heard someone make that case.

I imploy a device that holds my pistol in a locked case attached to the bed. It has a keypad on it. You can manage to open it in about 5 seconds with practice but keeps the guns locked at all times when not in use. I know 1972 was different.

Yes you were and I don't feel the way your parents handled guns was correct.

A gun should never be pointed at a target you can not visually indentify. Not only do you need to indentify the target but the path behind the target including what is past the next wall. The same rule as in hunting. This is taught in any basic gun safety coarse you will take. No danger involved.

Not true. Crime happens in the suburbs to, people are raped and killed pretty regularly, look up crime statistics. There are better options out now to secure a loaded weapon with-in easy access but out of prying hands.

The answer to violence and criminals is certainly not to become an easier victom. Good for them.

Truely you should not even brandish a weapon. Letting someone know its there can be an incentive to "kill you before you get me" and lets the criminal in on your advantage. Do not pull out or brandish a weapon unless you intend to shoot at that moment.

 

I have no idea. My father claimed to know all about guns, yet it was more than 30 years ago.

My father was half asleep, he always claimed his "Army Training" made him grab the gun while asleep. Who knows? All I know is he almost shot my mama.

 

This could be true, I was in the service and yes you do get conditioned to wake up ready. Again though if the gun is locked you have to be in a more awake state to access it, a good idea. Sorry to hear about your bad experience there, didn't he realize she was not in bed? When I wake I am wide awake, another thing I learned in the service so I couldn't say but if you take that long to fully realize whats going on in a situation you should not have the gun out.

 

I think one of the reasons I've felt that my kids need to understand a bit about weapons is that my husband occasionally works as an armed guard. While that's not his regular part-time job, he's got the training & certification so when they need someone extra he's who they call. On those weekends, a gun is in our house. Even though the bullets are left locked in a cupboard at work, I don't want the kids messing with it, and if we just never mentioned it I'm sure eventually that would have happened. As it is they've seen it & know what it's for & know there's nothing there for them, so they leave it alone.

DH inherited a couple antique guns from his grandfathers also. There's not much I could say about a family heirloom... and he buys bullets at the range so they're never in the house. The guns are kept locked up, but they're here. To show the kids why he wanted them to leave 'em alone, DH did the same thing his dad did... he took the kids out to a friends' field & shot a milk jug full of holes. It showed them pretty quick what COULD happen. My daughter is now convinced that she wants nothing to do with them. My son seemed interested in learning a little more, so DH showed him a few things like how to check that the safety is on & whether or not it's loaded safely, but so far that's all they've wanted to know. I don't think they could get to them without quite the struggle anyway, so I've felt about as safe as I can.

I guess I've always felt more afraid of the knife drawer than the guns, really... I can do a number on my fingers while being CAREFUL!
love,
mom

 

A good approach and it takes the forbidden aspect out of it. What I mean is there is nothing "mysterious" there.

I hear ya there. Most people, regardless of their stance on guns have knives that are easy to access. I know we a guilty of it. We just try and show them the consequences that can occur and proper handling plus they shouldn't touch unless adults are around, etc.

 

i use knives for a living and have cut my finger so badly, my bone was the only thing keeping it from cutting off. Anyone who has children should keep the knife drawer locked or put them up high...