OK, my turn to put my $.02 in!!! (mmmm...soapbox....)
We have a six year old daughter, who, from the time she was old enough to understand, has been brought up around our firearms. My husband and I have cleaned the guns around her, taken her with us to the range, etc..,. She even knows where we keep them. Soon we will invest in a .22 to begin teaching her how to shoot and handle a firearm herself.
With her, she has never been the type of child to go around sneaking into cabinets and dresser drawers. We will see with our next child (due anytime BTW) and adjust our plans accordingly!
Guns in the home are as "normal" to her as crayons and scissors, and therefore aren't a temptation to her. She KNOWS that the guns, along with other off-limits objects in the house (our 4ft long sword) are forbidden, and she also knows the consequences for disobedience. (the consequences for disobedience are consistent).
At night, our handguns stay within easy reach, loaded and ready to go. She wouldn't be able to get at them, considering they are under our pillows! During the day, the guns go up high, where she can't reach them, still loaded and ready to go. She knows that Mommy and Daddy's bedroom is off-limits, it's no-man's-land! (woe to her if she dares tread on the hallowed ground!) Plus, she is 100% supervised-by myself-and thus doesn't have the opportunity to grab a gun. When her friends come over, the guns are DEFINITELY out of reach, though.
That's just the way we do things in our household, and thus far it has worked rather well.
Keeping our firearms loaded at all times is quite important to us, as we were just robbed a few short weeks ago. Luckily, the little punks only took stuff from the outside of the house. Otherwise, they would have met up with our good friends SIGSauer and Mossberg, et al.
Larry P, is the offer to shoot your AR 15 open to North Texans as well? I for one would love to have a go-'round with one!
BTW, how in BLAZES do you make those smileys work? ARGHHH!!!!!!
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Janet Reno, aka "tertiary adjunct 5 of 12"... "We are BIG BROTHER. Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated..."
[This message has been edited by Darthmaum (edited June 28, 1999).]
We have a six year old daughter, who, from the time she was old enough to understand, has been brought up around our firearms. My husband and I have cleaned the guns around her, taken her with us to the range, etc..,. She even knows where we keep them. Soon we will invest in a .22 to begin teaching her how to shoot and handle a firearm herself.
With her, she has never been the type of child to go around sneaking into cabinets and dresser drawers. We will see with our next child (due anytime BTW) and adjust our plans accordingly!
Guns in the home are as "normal" to her as crayons and scissors, and therefore aren't a temptation to her. She KNOWS that the guns, along with other off-limits objects in the house (our 4ft long sword) are forbidden, and she also knows the consequences for disobedience. (the consequences for disobedience are consistent).
At night, our handguns stay within easy reach, loaded and ready to go. She wouldn't be able to get at them, considering they are under our pillows! During the day, the guns go up high, where she can't reach them, still loaded and ready to go. She knows that Mommy and Daddy's bedroom is off-limits, it's no-man's-land! (woe to her if she dares tread on the hallowed ground!) Plus, she is 100% supervised-by myself-and thus doesn't have the opportunity to grab a gun. When her friends come over, the guns are DEFINITELY out of reach, though.
That's just the way we do things in our household, and thus far it has worked rather well.
Keeping our firearms loaded at all times is quite important to us, as we were just robbed a few short weeks ago. Luckily, the little punks only took stuff from the outside of the house. Otherwise, they would have met up with our good friends SIGSauer and Mossberg, et al.
Larry P, is the offer to shoot your AR 15 open to North Texans as well? I for one would love to have a go-'round with one!
BTW, how in BLAZES do you make those smileys work? ARGHHH!!!!!!
------------------
Janet Reno, aka "tertiary adjunct 5 of 12"... "We are BIG BROTHER. Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated..."
[This message has been edited by Darthmaum (edited June 28, 1999).]