No Kids - I Don't Need To Secure My Gun

[SIGSHR]

I agree, doesn't sound right. Iraq War veteran, "served with Special Forces"-?
I went through Special Forces training in 1969, came out very disillusioned, perhaps things have changed since then. The Army did a poor job of training people with small arms in my day, several more recently serving personnel have told me nothing's changed. There have been a number of these shootings by children recently, always helps to be able to blame someone who cannot be legally charged for their actions or otherwise held accountable.

 

[wayneinFL]

Little kids don't respect such boundaries because they haven't learned them yet. The real-life answers aren't as easy as the typed generalizations.

Everybody's different, but there are some kids who just aren't being taught those boundaries. Someone shouldn't bring a 4 or 5 year old to a friend's home and let them loose, and allow him to rummage around in an adult's bedroom, for example. I didn't when my children were young, but some people do.

 

[southjk]

Everyone is talking about whether to keep your guns secured or not because someone with a child "might" stop by. Many here have no reason to expect children in their home and that's fine if you want to keep your loaded gun unsecured. I probably would too if I lived alone. But what hasn't been mentioned is what the guy answering the door should have done. He knows there is a gun/guns in the house and when he opened that door and invited them in the first thing he should have done was to excuse himself and go secure the guns. That was the fatal mistake here.

 

[RBid]

Cars that are parked in the garage 100% of the time are also NEVER involved in crashes....

Your statement is both false, and indicative that you equate "secured" with locked up. I have a Glock 19 riding in a Galco King Tuk at 4 o'clock, under a cover garment. This firearm is secured, and is not "parked in the garage". When I take it off, it goes directly into a safe. It is under my control and inaccessible to others, 100% of the time.

Respectfully, one could also say that households with no firearms at all are never involved in these incidents either.

No need to speculate on that. It's a true statement, and has been repeated ad nauseum.

I'm a very strong proponent of the Second Amendment, for a host of reasons. When reduced to simplest terms, my position is that firearms are about preservation. They help us preserve our lives, safety, security, and liberty. When we bring them into our lives, but apply Condition White filters to how we handle or store them, we are acting against their purpose. Through decisions to leave them unsecured, and through unsafe handling, people create the opportunity that their own tools of preservation can instead contribute to the owner being robbed of things that they hold dear.

 

[RedBowTies88]

Your statement is both false, and indicative that you equate "secured" with locked up. I have a Glock 19 riding in a Galco King Tuk at 4 o'clock, under a cover garment. This firearm is secured, and is not "parked in the garage". When I take it off, it goes directly into a safe. It is under my control and inaccessible to others, 100% of the time.

As I had said before in this thread, we're not all lucky enough to live in a part of the country where the constitution applies. While what you're describing would be the best solution in the real world here in liberal land I'm not going to lock and unlock my weapon every single time I leave the house for a pack of bubble gum.

 

[olddav]

Growing up I can not remember a time when we did not have firearms in our house. All loaded or at least you had to assume so, and none locked up, stored in a glass gun case or in desk drawers. We were allowed to handled and shoot them often, and by doing so we gained experience and knowledge. Under adult supervision we developed good habits and advanced understanding of how firearms fuctions.
While fear can be a good motivator it can also consume. If you feel you should secure your firearms at all time then by all means do so, as for me I will decided how to and when it is approtitate to secure the firearms in my home. Like the title says I have no children and no children visit my home.

Good Luck to all!

edited for grammar and such, too lazy to check spelling.

 

[Tinner666]

We're 'post' children. Our offspring generally call ahead to give us time to hide/lockup/unload firearms that are normally lying around.

Once, an Iraqi vet and his family dropped in without notice. About a minute later, I realized 4 children were lined up at Parade Rest looking at a Glock I'd missed. I headed over in a panic and his wife said "Not to worry. They know better!"
It seems there isn't any forbidden fruit syndrome to worry about in that family. Each child, in turn was able to give me details about the firearm without touching it, straight from the manual, including ballistics. They ranged from 5-13. The 5 y.o. said she preferred the .44 mag., but mostly shoots her 38.
She must have weighed 60 pounds too.

 

[Wyoredman]

Interesting conversation.

My personal experience is that since she was two years old, my now teenage daughter has gone with me into the hunting fields. She has seen with her own eyes what it means to die. She has seen with her own eyes how people can use guns to kill. She respects the fact that the guns in our house can be deadly if they are handled incorrectly.

She also knows that they are fun and exciting to shoot. She knows, unconditionally, that if she wants to shoot one of our guns, all she needs to do is ask. She knows, unconditionally, that if one of her friends is around and even thinks of messing with our guns, it is off limits until I am advised.

I works.

Some one will say - "What if you are not home?" I say - One must trust in their children and trust they are raised correctly.

I will not tell you what to do with your guns, or your children. This is my story.

 

[RBid]

While fear can be a good motivator it can also consume.

Securing them isn't about fear, any more than owning a firearm is about fear. Each is about awareness that bad things can happen.

We were allowed to handled and shoot them often, and by doing so we gained experience and knowledge. Under adult supervision we developed good habits and advanced understanding of how firearms fuctions.

I am on board with teaching proper handling and safety. Education is certainly a key to reducing the chance that something will happen. My choice is to ensure that they are only handled under supervision.

 

[vytoland]

people can live in their homes any way they choose. parents of small children NEED to be vigilant in their supervision.

a parent's control over their children is paramount. do NOT let them approach strange animals. do NOT let them near swimming pools, unless you are at their side. do NOT let them play with harmful objects...knives, matches, chemicals, GUNS.

they are YOUR kids and YOUR responsibility.

 

[Skans]

3 people were at fault here:

1. 4 year old kid who picked up a gun and shot dad - Kid should not have ever thought to do something like this. That's right, even a 4 year old kid can be held responsible for his actions to some degree, in my eyes.

2. Father of Child for (a) not instructing kid on never to touch guns; and (b) for not properly supervising kid while in someone else's house.

3. Gun owner for not taking some measures to secure loaded firearm once he saw that there was going to be a 4 year old kid in his house.