A different "being outed"

K

kraigwy

New member
How do you talk to small children about your CCW?

OK, for a bit of background. We all know that most place (if not all) you're not allowed to carry on school grounds (elementary through high school). Even under the LEOSA, which exempts most state laws, there is still the Federal Safe School Act that prevents firearms on school grounds.

My main hobby is attending my granddaughter's volleyball & basketball games, I just don't miss them. I don't carry to these games.

We were at a home game and my younger (4 year old granddaughter) was with us. Her brothers were teasing her about mountain lions, (she's developed a fear of mountain lions although she's never seen one).

Anyway her brothers were telling her she was going to be eaten by a lion, she yells out "NO GRANDPA HAS A GUN IN HIS POCKET, HE WONT LET THEM GET ME".

I want you to know I got some looks. Thing is most of the home fans know me, but I'm concerned about someone not knowing me panicking.

I know that in the long run I have nothing to worry about (since I'm not carrying) but I don't need to start a panic and possible school lock down you see a lot of on the cable news.

What to do.
 
Not much you can do, since you don't carry on school grounds. Just smile and go about your business.
If a panic does ensue, well, that's just something you'll have to deal with when/if you cross that bridge.
 
Kraigwy, Don't forget you are in WYO. Most of us will most likely not even pay attention. I may see you at a game in Lander!
 
I may see you at a game in Lander!
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Lander is 3A West, we're 3A East, You guys already whooped us in the East West Challenge in Buffalo.

But, look for me to try and make the Lander Valley HP matches this summer.
 
Seems to me as though the fewest possible number of people that know the better if you are concealing your gun.

That seems to include kids to me. My daughter is only 7mo old so not a problem for me right now, but I don't think I would mention it to her until I thought she was old enough, responsible enough, and that she wouldn't say anything, before I would tell her.

To me it's the same thing as other "secrets" I didn't want strangers or people around me to know. Once, when I was six; my mom told me what my cousin was getting for his birthday. Of course I promptly told him... Kids often do not realize they should not say things.

Of course none of this probably means anything to you since your granddaughter obviously already knows.
 
8mm I agree with you 100%, concealed is concealed, but things happen.

My Grandkids spend a lot of time in the country with grandma and grandpa, when she runs across a rattler and watches grandpa pull a 642 out of his pocket to dispatch the snake (rattlers and grandkids don't play well together) its not hard for her, even at 4 years old, to take notice.

On the other hand, her mother, who's in her thirties just found out I carry last December and she's known me since she was about 8 - 10.
 
My daughter is 8, which is a far cry from 4. Fortunately, my daughter has taken fairly well to the "concealed means concealed" idea, and likes the idea that we have a "secret code." If she wants to know if I'm carrying, she asks if I have my PDA (Personal Defense Assistant). Unfortunately, kraigwy, a 4-year-old may or may not be able to keep the secret that well.

The only thing I can think of to do is to prepare a couple of stories should that happen again. I don't mean lies, just explanations: "She knows that I carry a pistol when we're out on the farm." I'm sure it's true (and if we had rattlers near my place, I'd carry out there, too), and also explains why she might think "granpa has a gun."
 
Gotcha, that can be hard.

I once had an anti-gun female friend lay into me before after spotting one of my bags of 8MM brass I hope to reload someday. Apparently "i don't know how dangerous guns are..." Which is funny, because she is the one who has never fired one.

I would definitely have preferred she not know because she can't be mature about it, same as a kid.
 
Our kids grew up with me always wearing a gun, and it was just what it was. They didnt see it being anything special.

I explained to them as soon as they could comprehend, which was really pretty early on, around 4 or 5, that some things were our secret, my gun being one of them, and were not to be discussed outside the house. I never had any problems with them over it. They got the "Nazi" speech at the same time too. Hey, they all tie together. :)
 
mmm, tough one

a 4-year-old may or may not be able to keep the secret that well.
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I don't holster where my 5 year old daughter can see.

We've discussed basic gun safety (i.e. don't get in front of them and don't touch them w/out dad being there). I let her polish the metal parts of my rifles and pistols when I am cleaning, so she's seen guns and is familiar. But I really don't trust her to say/not say anything about it in public. God forbid we should walk in on a hold up (or it walk in on us) and she say something like "Daddy, get your gun out" while she's holding my strong hand.
 
When mine were that age, I told them that carrying a gun is kind of like using the bathroom. It's nothing to be ashamed of, but it's private, so we don't talk about it around other people.

It seemed to work.

pax
 
Nice story. Something to definitely think about. On a somewhat related note, doesn't the fsza exempt those with ccw permits?
 
There are people in the "education" realm who feel it their duty to foster an agenda that they don't necesarily view as political, but more like they feel they have the latest knowledge of what's good and bad for kids health - and they assume parents are ignorant.

My oldest daughter mentioned to her class that her father shoots guns.

That's all she said.

I got a call from the school counselor and got the thrid degree about it. The woman seemed not to be listening to me when I told her my firearms were locked and not accesible to children. Despite what I told her - she went on to tell me about the dangers of children with firearms and the school's zero tolerance policy. I told her I thought the school's zero tolerance policy was a good thing, and I was sure it could only protect my children, and my kids would never run afoul of it becasue there was no way they could ever access my firearms. That seemed to anger her so she took another five minutes of my time repeating verbatim everything she had said previously. She obviously had an agenda - to convince me that guns are bad and that I needed to get rid of them. Why repeat her shpeel after I acknowledged what she had said and told her that my firearms were secured? She wasn't satisfied with that, she didn't like that oprion - that I had firearms but that they were secure. She wanted to impose her will on me - which meant getting rid of my firearms. I also got a call from the school nurse shortly after that. The tone of that call had a different bent - it seemed to be aimed at determining if my house was a safe environment for my children and if the kids were in danger in my house. The nurse cited statistics about the children killed with firearms etc...

It was very alarming. I was afraid that there would be some follow up visit from DCFS to ensure that my firearms were indeed secured and locked up.
 
pax said:
When mine were that age, I told them that carrying a gun is kind of like using the bathroom. It's nothing to be ashamed of, but it's private, so we don't talk about it around other people.
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I like that one.
C0untZer0 said:
There are people in the "education" realm who feel it their duty to foster an agenda that they don't necesarily view as political, but more like they feel they have the latest knowledge of what's good and bad for kids health - and they assume parents are ignorant. . . . I got a call from the school counselor . . . . I also got a call from the school nurse . . . .
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Wow. Clearly, someone had decided that it was their job to make sure your home was safe . . . :rolleyes:
 
If a panic ensues,,,

It would not be your fault,,,
Therefore it is nothing for you to worry about.

It is not your responsibility to try and prevent,,,
Something completely out of your control,,,
Nor should you waste effort trying.

Case in point,,,
This happened to me recently.

I am a CWL holder,,,
I can not carry at the university I work at,,,
I can however drive my car into the parking lot and secure my weapon there.

Several months back I pulled into a parking space,,,
After turning my motor off I reached into my inner jacket pocket,,,
I removed my handgun and it's pocket holster and secured them in my lock-box.

Some woman saw this through my windshield,,,
She panicked and ran into her office where she called the cops,,,
I was halfway to my building when several OSU-PD officers surrounded me.

I was breaking no campus regulation,,,
In fact I was in full compliance with Oklahoma State Law,,,
Yet I was regaled as a "violator" because I had alarmed an ignorant person.

The officers were all angry with me for causing this situation,,,
Nothing happened to me as there was no violation of any law whatsoever,,,
I did have to endure my immediate supervisor telling me I should be more discrete in the future.

I politely but very firmly informed him,,,
Since I had done nothing wrong whatsoever,,,
I felt no need to apologize or modify my behavior.

I stated it is absolutely not my responsibility to tailor my perfectly legal actions,,,
Around the possibility of an inappropriate reaction by an ignorant person.

In short I told him to go pound sand,,,
Which I thought was a reasonable action on my part.

I found it humorous that no one thought it necessary to explain to the complainant that what I was doing was completely lawful and reasonable.

Aarond

.
 
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One way to determine if your concealed handgun is really concealed or not is to have small children around. They do not have the inhibition about staring and will notice those odd bulges in your clothing where the grip is sticking out abd which you swear (especially those of you who post pictures of a concealed .45 auto under a t-shirt) does not print. They have not yet learned to be polite and pretend they don't see things.
 
doesn't the fsza exempt those with ccw permits?
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I believe the "fsza" does state it's legal to carry if you have a "permit". But I have questions about that.

I do carry per the LEOSA which does exempt LE and Ret LE from "most" state laws, but does not exempt you from Federal Laws such as the Safe School Zone act. Most states prohibit even permittees from carrying in schools.

The LEOSA is not a permit per se, but a ID or ret LD card. The way I read it, my LE Ret ID card wouldn't qualify as a CCW Permit IAW the Safe School Act.

So its an "iffy" situation. To be on the safe side, I don't carry when I go to my granddaughter's basketball games.

The Fed's School Safety act does have the exception "the firearm is unloaded and locked in a container" . So that is what I do, when I enter the school grounds (feds say "within 1000 feet") my revolver is unloaded, and secured in a lock container that stays in the vehicle.

This means (like yesterday) that if I drive 300 miles across the state to a ball game, I don't have to leave my gun at home or find a storage place when I hit another town.

Anyway, THIS IS JUST MY OPINION and based on my reading of the LEOSA and Fed Safe School Act. Until some court comes up with a ruling different, I'll keep my revolver locked up while on school grounds.

Besides the closest to a dangerous situation I've run across is in attending my ball games is when I wore the wrong colored shirt (Rivel teams school colors) and dern near got stoned by my own girls.
 
I can't believe you guys, what, are you ashamed that you are legally armed?

Making something like your firearms a mystery for a young child can be very hazardous to their health. Very young children learn at a tremendous rate,,,you don't think so? Try language. We were in Germany when our two oldest were 1-4 and 2-5. By the time they were 2 they could speak German as well as they could speak English. The oldest was 2 when we arrived and was talking to the (German speaking) neighbors within a week.

Every child should be introduced to firearm safety at least by 4 or 5. They can comprehend and they can understand..Don't think your child/grandchild is not curious or does not notice no matter how hard you try to hide your carry. If you don't explain things to them, they will explore for themselves, and that is dangerous.

Personally, I OC all summer, and only conceal because I wear a coat when it is cold, and then only the coat covers my carry. All of our grandkids know, it's right out there in the open for them to see. They also know, If they want to shoot with grandma and grandpa they have to ask. Otherwise, don't touch. We treated our 5 daughters the same way and we have never had a child touch any of our weapons without permission. (we have 13 grandchildren)

It works. And I am sure that the youngest grandchild (2) has already been told by his sisters the safety ins and outs of grandpa's and Grandma's guns....even though I'm sure his mom hasn't and I know I haven't. That little guy will get into anything, but my weapons he leaves alone, he has watched his sisters shoot though....
 
I don't think anyone is ashamed of carrying, but I also believe Concealed is Concealed.

There is nothing gained by advertising the point.

But, if you are in a "No Gun Zone" such as a school, you don't want your Grandchild yelling out that you have a gun whether you have one or not.
 
Well, here, you can have a gun (with a CPL) on school property if you are dropping off/picking up your kids. It does not have to be concealed, but you do need the license.

As all our kids live on the wet side, our chances of going to a school function is minimal, but should it happen that there is a function, in the school building, (like a high school graduation) I don't have a problem leaving my carry in the car.

If one of my grandkids were to say "where is your gun grandpa?" I'd tell them, not laudly mind you, but I'd tell them. Wouldn't bother me, most likely wouldn't bother anyone around me. If someone actually called 911, it would probably never get past the 911 operator. They don't dispatch the police unless you are doing something illegal with your carry here. I would think WY would be the same.
 
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