Children and Dangerous Curiosity

T

tatters

New member
Well, I finally got to see the way a curious child's mind works. I have a 5 year old boy and as such, he loves wrestling and watching martial arts stuff, and of course, mimics everything he sees. He was playing with a pair of toy nunchucks, and me being the
has-been, wannabe Bruce Lee,showed him my real life 'chucks. The problem was, I had made a big secret about where I kept them, and asked him to leave the room while I dug them out of a drawer. We played a while and he got to see how Dad damages his knees and elbows with his martial arts skills(lol), and when he left the room, I put them away in the secret place and told him not to look 'cause he may hurt himself if he got them out. I know better than this.
No more than 5 minutes go by and I am in the shower, the wife comes into the bathroom and tells me about a certain 5 year old who she caught in my closet looking around for these 'chucks. She is more upset, 'cause some Christmas presents are hidden in the closet.
I have never made a big secret about my guns, the family knows the damage they can cause, and they know I wear one pretty much all the time, they know where the are stored and the kids know to keep their hands off unless supervised. I have never had the first problem with the curiosity thing and my firearms.
I always urge new gunowners to teach their family about firearms. How to be safe, and when it is appropriate to use them. Don't make a big secret and a source of curiosity.
It can kill more than a cat.

------------------
So many a'holes-- so few bullets!------
Ford Fairlane :D

[This message has been edited by tatters (edited December 19, 1999).]
 
Tatters,
I agree with you on that. I have an 8 year old nephew, & the last thing I want is have him find my 'Dangerous Stuff' and hurt himself or someone else.
The Key to safety is education, however, like you mentioned, curiosity can literally kill the cat, so until our children grow up a little and understand the seriousness of the situation, keep the guns and knives and swords and nunchucks locked up.
 
My kids grew up around guns (& yup, the nasty old knee-bashers). They shot pistols first at 4yrs w/me wrapping my arms around from behind -always very direct supervision till they were much older.

I told them (several times) that any time they wanted to see the shooters, I would always allow them to - they participated in cleaning after sessions, too - all the aspects. It does take away alot of the curiosity that can lead to trouble. But too, except for the personal pistol (which I always had under very tight control) all others were locked up in, at the very least, in steel security cabinets.

You owe it to your children & yourself tolocked 'em up. Too, there's that random theft that puts shooters on the streets & I believe that is another personal responsibility of ours - keep 'em in the right hands only.

BTW, there's a bunch of other stuff kids can get into - kitchen knives, matches/lighters (which can cause a bunch more damage than shooter), electrical stuff - kids need to be educated & stuff-proofed - not have all our stuff kid-proofed. Off the soapbox.
 
How true it all is. I tried desperatly to raise two stepsons, and while doing so, teach the joys, and hazards of shooting/hunting. I thought I'd done a fairly good job of this, until one day, I realized the gun cabinet had been compromised. The lock cylinder had been completely turned inside the oak door of the cabinet. I wasn't monetarily prepared to buy a high-end safe, so I moved the guns to another location, away from the problem. I discovered I couldn't do anything legally against the boys, since it was in my own home, the guns didn't leave the home, etc. What I found out was that "I" would have been arrested if either of the boys had hurt themselves, or another while playing with the guns. Regardless of the fact, that they broke into a locked cabinet to obtain them. Someone else has to "pay" for the crimes committed by others,


Same situation as a homeowner placing a fence around a swimming pool to provide reasonable limits of access to same pool. If a youth jumps the fence and drowns in the pool, the owner is sued for NOT doing this, or that. The owner is really being sued for having the pool, not because the fence wasn't tall enough. Let's face it, if he didn't have the pool, the kid wouldn't have drown...no lawsuit. Very liberal concept at work there. You need to have less, for the general good of all. Less is more, more or less.

[This message has been edited by Donny (edited December 19, 1999).]
 
What I forgot to mention in the last post was that YES, there were severe problems between myself and the boys. That's why the mention of the legalities issue with them compromising the cabinet. Oh, things eventually worked out. They got tired of me, and they moved out...

Just trying to clarify the statement a little.

Thanks
 
Back when my son was around four years old, I was showing a 1911 Colt to some friends. He was all big-eyed and interested. So, I let him feel and fondle. It was too big for his little hands to make it go "click". So, I told him that whenever he thought he was big enough to shoot it, just tell me and we would go shoot. Anytime, at his choosing.

Now, he also "helped" me butcher out deer. I showed him what happened along the bullet's path, and pointed out that rifles and 1911s were not toys. He understood.

Having the approval to shoot anytime he wanted to removed the "lure of the illicit", the thrill of "GUNS!" from his imagination. If you can take the "big deal" aspect out of a child's equation, life is much easier. I never had to lock my guns away from my son, and never, ever, had a problem.

FWIW, Art
 
By the way, I conked myself in the melon last night with these 'chucks. I have a bruise to show for my stupidity!!! I must be the dangerous one!!!!!!!!! I would sure hate to be the bad guy on the other end of a set of these being wielded by someone competent. The bad guy has nothing to worry about if these are my only weapon. Thank God for firearms! LOL

------------------
So many a'holes-- so few bullets!------
Ford Fairlane :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top