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I was putting my shotgun back in my grandpa's old gun cabinet that is now hanging on my wall and got to thinking. Back in the day, even 15 years ago, when I was real young, gun safty and storage was a lot different. My grandpa always had two gun cabinets his rifles were in, with ammo to each one in a drawer below. He taught my brother and I about guns and there was never any issues. My dad kept all his in cases that we had easy access to, nothing happened. Handguns were kept in closets or dressers....it seems like there were no school shooting, not many firearm accidents, etc. . Nowdays, everybody has gun locks, safes, ammo is separated, etc. And look at all the problems. I think people just need to teach their kids, not make guns a "bad" thing, and let the kids shoot them. I knew where every gun was in the house. I think maybe that is why I didn't go looking for them. What's the deal with all this logic?
 
I completely agree with your way of thinking, and live by it. Teach kids about guns ant it takes the fantasy out of them! I have raised my kids around guns and they all started shooting when they were very young, and I have NEVER had a problem, three are collage age now and the others that are still at home don't even look at them with curiosity. It used to be a way of life, that supported the family food plan and now, there is so much BS spread about them that kids grow up blaming crime on the "bad Guns" and not blaming the actual culprit...the gun handler.
My kids all know where my guns are and when they come out the kids all get excited because they know that they may get to go to the range, but before that they MUST recite the safety rules to me before touching a firearm, but they love shooting them, and they respect them for what they are...A dangerous tool!
 
My daughter age 14 is aware of where the house gun is and how to use it . She was taught early on about gun safety. Have not had a problem. I have also shown other kids how to shoot / safe gun handling after getting parental permission. The kids and parents both seem to enjoy the experience. It seems that if you take time to explain what a gun is and what it can or can not do, it goes a long way to preventing a problem. Andy
 
My dad never had his firearms locked up, most were on display around the house in his custom gun cabinets and hanging on the wall. Us four boys understood that he meant business when we were taught that fingers would be broken if we EVER TOUCHED HIS S**T. Fear, respect and education from Dad kept us out of trouble. Well, kept us out of firearm related trouble anyway.
 
When I was in high school, the 2 younger brothers of one of my classmates got in an argument, and the younger one went to the closet, got a shotgun and unloaded it on his brother. Then he went to the closet and got a rifle to put him out of his misery.


Someone on this site said something to the effect that kids make mistakes, it's our job as adults to make sure that they are able to learn from their mistakes. Unsupervised, mistakes with firearms often don't allow for a "teachable moment."
 
Sorry to hear about that toolfan. Did they keep their kitchen knives locked up? What about their tire irons? How about the hammers?

Point is a firearm is a deadly tools, along with about another dozen deadly tools that are around the home. I would be really pissed if I couldnt find my hammer when I wanted to hang a photo. I would be devastated if I couldnt access my pistol when I needed it to defend my family.

Not to sound p.c. but family values are the key. It's not so much about teaching your kids about guns, it's about being a parent in all aspects of your life!
 
My son has been shooting machine guns starting when he was able to reach the trigger. he is only 2 3/4 right now. He has no mystery about guns. every morning before i go to work he asks me where my gun is if i have it concealed. I am a believer in take the fear and mystery out of them. When i take him to the range he can shoot any of my rifles. I need to get a new .22 handgun for him. and he has a few rifles of his own already.

When i was younger my mom was, and still is against guns in the house. Less so now, but she has never shot one, and never will. my dad grew up with guns, and it was the main source of food for his family growing up. I got my first gun at 7. i kept it under my bed. I was the only one in the house with a gun. my dad didn't get another gun until i was 9 or 10. I was taught the rules. and respected them. Since the gun was mine and i had access to it all the time it wasnt a toy. it was a tool.
 
I think it depends on the family as to how gun safety should be covered. As firearms are leaving the rural areas and making a heavy push into urban areas. Some families just aren't used to having firearms in the home. Top that off with having firearms and not hunting (which to me is the biggest difference). Firearms changed in my mind the first time I shot a rabbit. Up until that point the gravity of what I was carrying didn't have that big impact on me. If you are just shooting paper I don't think a kid is able to understand what they are shooting and what it can do to flesh. Hunting also reinforces that this is a tool that is used to take game and supply food to eat.

Not that I have any issue with someone having firearms and not hunting. I just think that if the child isn't hunting you do need to take some more precautions.
 
There are two issues here.

Ignorance of gun safety: safety should be taught and exposure provided.
Locking guns up is not the issue. I lock mine up, but not to keep them out of my family's hands. They're locked up because someone isn't always home - and a break-in is a possibility. Locking them up out of sight is a small effort that may keep them in my home while the tv is being tossed into someone's car.

Media coverage:
I wish I could find the info again, but I read something interesting about shootings in schools being mostly flat for the last hundred years, we just hear about every single one now. In the past, we wouldn't get that coverage and towns would feel shamed and never talk about them.
 
Times have changed for sure. When I was very young there was gun rack over the mantle/fireplace with a shotgun and a rifle in it. People drove around with guns in the back of the windows of their truck. Friends and relatives had the open or glassed cases full of guns.

Thinking about it now is weird. I know when I was almost out of high school I had a rack in my room with guns in it but the rest of the household had changed to a secret room and a safe for gun storage. When I moved out there was no guns in sight. I am the oldest child of 4 too. Don't get me wrong we are as pro gun as a family can be. Well ok, there is my sister ;) But even my commie sister finally gave in and realized the importance of a gun for defense.

21 years later and I don't see physical guns anywhere anymore. Guns are hidden. Yet, I hear or read how bad they are within society each and every day. It's been getting bad for some time now. Drive by shootings are prevalent, police shootings go wrong, dumb @ss gangsters, road rage, and on and on. Kids shoot one another for sneakers, notoriety, or even just because. It's crazy!

It hasn't been long since those good old days. Not really. I don't want to see the common community become that of Oakland nor do I want the laws good citizens abide by resemble that of commifornia or Chicago. It appears we are heading that direction though.

My opinion is that it starts in the family. The values and the respect that our parents teach us. Not only does that transfer importantly in a way to responsible individual gun use and ownership, but to how guns are perceived overall and eventually the way we our governed.

The important part of a child learning that respect is the discipline from a young age. Kids really need to know right from wrong. They need to respect it. Some people say that love is the important part of the equation. I agree on that too. What kind of discipline works though? When I was a kid it wasn't pretty to say the least. Really really bad actually. I'm not saying that kids should have the kind of discipline I received. Ok, maybe some ;) I survived it and I know some really do need it! In my case there must have been enough genuine love to make it work. The key to the future is that newer generations are taught respect and responsibility. The chain can't be broken. Without it we have mayhem.

Excellent thoughts, CW009. People did not behave as they do now when I was growing up, either. Unfortunately, I don't see it changing back soon. We have too many young folks exercising their (as yet, unearned) rights to be uncivil and irresponsible while the adults who (should) know better stand around wringing their hands and mumbling about not wanting to hurt anyone's feelings. I am not blaming the young people, but rather putting the blame squarely on the shoulders of today's "adults" who have lost their way... and any semblance of common sense or propriety. Societal norms run in cycles and hopefully this is the low point of the curve. That said, my wife says I'm just a cranky old fart living in the past :)
 
Yes it is true that school shootings arent a new thing. What is new is the reporting that is done on them. Unfortunately the news always sensationalizes happenings in order to draw viewership which then increases ratings resulting in more cash flow from advertising. People don't want to hear stories of how many thousands die from auto accidents every year because people already know that. But it one or two people die in an unexpected way it will get media coverage like crazy. Violent crimes have consistently been declining for a long time. Property crimes may still be some what prevalent but if anything violent crimes have drastically fallen even in the last 10 years. Personally I think thats a good thing! respecting firearms needs to be more prevalent and with all the dumb shows on tv that show people using guns in irresponsible ways its hard for someone who has never been exposed to real guns to gain a respect for them. does that make sense?
 
Sorry to hear about that toolfan. Did they keep their kitchen knives locked up? What about their tire irons? How about the hammers?

Point is a firearm is a deadly tools, along with about another dozen deadly tools that are around the home. I would be really pissed if I couldnt find my hammer when I wanted to hang a photo. I would be devastated if I couldnt access my pistol when I needed it to defend my family.

Not to sound p.c. but family values are the key. It's not so much about teaching your kids about guns, it's about being a parent in all aspects of your life!

SPOT ON:s0155:
 
Modern attitudes towards gun safety work in exactly the same way that "abstinence-only" education reduces accidental pregnancies. Keep kids in the dark about anything, and they will figure it out the hard way.
 
Times have changed for sure. When I was very young there was gun rack over the mantle/fireplace with a shotgun and a rifle in it. People drove around with guns in the back of the windows of their truck. Friends and relatives had the open or glassed cases full of guns.

Excellent post. I think that hits it square.

When I was a young kid my mom took me out by the barn, we stacked a bunch of fruit on the dirt bank. Faces where drawn on them. Before we unloaded the .45's on 'em it was explained that we were to imagine those faces could be real. It made the point. as I got older I was hunting varmints and what not, seeing what that gun could do, the instant devastation on living things, not "paper" leaves a person with the absolute power that can end like instantly.

As modern society takes a bigger and bigger hold on us as a whole, we as a people our loosing the old values a lot of us grew up on.
 
Modern attitudes towards gun safety work in exactly the same way that "abstinence-only" education reduces accidental pregnancies. Keep kids in the dark about anything, and they will figure it out the hard way.
I was thinking along those same lines.
Nanny-ism Hypocrisy today: Its a good thing our schools teach sex ed, drug awareness, and even in some cases, same sex ed. But lets keep gun safety, or even the mention or drawing of a firearm, out of schools because it might give a troubled kid some bad ideas. :s0155: Its all so clear now.
 
My general theory on it is this:

Reasonable men may differ on whether or not the second amendment is a good thing. I personally like it, I imagine most here do as well, but if you're debating with anti-gun types they may not agree. Whether or not it is a good idea is not the issue at hand; we are guaranteed an unalienable right to own firearms as soon as we turn 18 for better or worse. The only way to get rid of it is to strike down one of the original Bill of Rights, and once that happens freedom of speech, freedom from unlawful search and seizure, etc. are all on the chopping block. So in a system where we are guaranteed access to guns, why in the name of Jeebus do we not teach gun safety in schools? I know, it is the parents' responsibility but time and again the majority has demonstrated that they don't give two bubblegums for good parenting. I learned about condoms and birth control and STDs in school, I learned about drugs and alcohol in school, but never once were guns mentioned as part of the curriculum. However, from a young age I DO remember watching cartoons many times where they open, load, aim, and fire a gun in a perfectly realistic way. So, children know how to use them, often where to find them, but when we do not teach them to respect guns they will not know how to be safe with them. Good parenting, and strong family values are the key here, but have you looked around at the regular people lately? Gun safety should be mandatory in school.
 
I completely agree with your way of thinking, and live by it. Teach kids about guns ant it takes the fantasy out of them! I have raised my kids around guns and they all started shooting when they were very young, and I have NEVER had a problem, three are collage age now and the others that are still at home don't even look at them with curiosity. It used to be a way of life, that supported the family food plan and now, there is so much BS spread about them that kids grow up blaming crime on the "bad Guns" and not blaming the actual culprit...the gun handler.
My kids all know where my guns are and when they come out the kids all get excited because they know that they may get to go to the range, but before that they MUST recite the safety rules to me before touching a firearm, but they love shooting them, and they respect them for what they are...A dangerous tool!

Pretty much.. When i first got my AK copy I was like
"YEAAHHHH AK -47"

When I went out and fired it after a few times it became \

"An AK 47.. I want to go play Xbox instead.."
I had been raised around guns.. but they become a lot less intriguing when you shoot them enough IMO.
 
my first .22 at 12 (still have it too, some 50 years later). It was always stored in a cabinet over the basement stairs, ammo and magazine were there too. Never a problem for me or anyone else either.
Now we have two grandkids at home and my wife is terrified of them learning to shoot. She doesn't like my having guns but she also knows that if she says no to the guns I'll take them all and leave, then file the divorce papers!!

The "Trade Ratings" is low by 3!
Some people just don't post it I guess

Deen
NRA Benefactor/Recruiter
WAC member
ACSWW member
 
My general theory on it is this:

Reasonable men may differ on whether or not the second amendment is a good thing. I personally like it, I imagine most here do as well, but if you're debating with anti-gun types they may not agree. Whether or not it is a good idea is not the issue at hand; we are guaranteed an unalienable right to own firearms as soon as we turn 18 for better or worse. The only way to get rid of it is to strike down one of the original Bill of Rights, and once that happens freedom of speech, freedom from unlawful search and seizure, etc. are all on the chopping block. So in a system where we are guaranteed access to guns, why in the name of Jeebus do we not teach gun safety in schools? I know, it is the parents' responsibility but time and again the majority has demonstrated that they don't give two bubblegums for good parenting. I learned about condoms and birth control and STDs in school, I learned about drugs and alcohol in school, but never once were guns mentioned as part of the curriculum. However, from a young age I DO remember watching cartoons many times where they open, load, aim, and fire a gun in a perfectly realistic way. So, children know how to use them, often where to find them, but when we do not teach them to respect guns they will not know how to be safe with them. Good parenting, and strong family values are the key here, but have you looked around at the regular people lately? Gun safety should be mandatory in school.

teach the Second Amendment in schools anymore. There are even textbooks out that omit it or claim that it's outmoded and doesn't need to be followed. They call that a First Amendment right, you know, "free speech".

The "Trade Ratings" is low by 3!
Some people just don't post it I guess

Deen
NRA Benefactor/Recruiter
WAC member
ACSWW member
 

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