Safe Storage w/Children

You are conflating liability with responsibility. Nevertheless, your anti-gun bias is showing (again). You live in an anti-gun society, so you aren't really qualified to understand the nuances of how it works here in the U.S.
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So you see keeping children safe and not allowed unsupervised access to firearms as anti gun strange logic, i call it being a responsible gun owner. I have a few guns, and no child will be anywhere near them without my supervision and permission, if you see that as anti gun then there are plenty on the forum that commented on this thread are anti gun as well, and they are American and do understand the nuances of how it works here in the U.S PS Explain what i posted that is anti gun, as it hard for me to understand the nuances. :rolleyes:
 
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what about the children...

Educate
Demonstrate the destructive nature of a firearm
Strictly enforce "the rules", ie. the command "stop" is adhered to without question or hesitation.
Check every gun to see if it is loaded.
Consider every gun as loaded until they inspect same. (of course you had already inspected).
 
I have posted this all over several forums

Wife an I were targets and kids as well due to job types and locations

We had to get serious ( and properly trained) with personal and family protection

Early on training of the growing kids and even the low age usage of the guns was deliberately considered and incorporated for OUR family... my 8 year old son could out shoot me

BUT as the kids aged and friends were in our home for BD party, sleep overs the consideration was for the armed guns with curious kids

NO choice but to lock away...actually caused us to get first of several gun safes

Trust me...you can hid and lock up every gun in a safe with three person control and the little devils will drink every drop of Vodka you have.... levity
 
I raised 2 daughter's without ever locking up my PD handgun. I did have a safe I kept the others in but all my rifles were in unlocked cases under my bed.
I did as others did, educated them in the safety rules and told them if the EVER wanted to see/handle a firearm all they need to do is ask. They both did multiple times over the years. The key here is NEVER say no or later. ALWAYS drop what you're doing and do what you promised. That way they'll have no reason to look for one without you.

I now have one daughter (31) who is my shooting partner and one (34) who doesn't like firearms. She's not anti-gun, she just doesn't like them.

This worked for me and may or may not work for others, but I never worried about them touching a firearm without my supervision.
 
manta49 said:
So you see keeping children safe and not allowed unsupervised access to firearms as anti gun strange logic, i call it being a responsible gun owner.
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Don't put words in my mouth. I am certainly in favor of keeping children safe. What I am not in favor of is insulating them from exposure to firearms, and treating them in ways that don't teach them that they are, ultimately, responsible for their actions. Yes, until children reach the legal age of adulthood the parents are legally liable for what their children do, but that should not absolve the children of learning to be responsible human beings.

I'm old enough to have grown up in an era when most families had at least one gun in the house, and it was rarely locked up. Kids were taught to shoot at a young age (if I remember correctly, I think I was about ten when my grandfather taught me and my brother to shoot -- my brother was eight). and along with that came being taught responsibility, and that we WOULD NOT touch a firearm without parental (or grandparental) permission. That's just the way it was, and the adults didn't need gun safes or trigger locks to enforce it.
 
"...along with that came being taught responsibility, and that we WOULD NOT touch a firearm without parental (or grandparental) permission. That's just the way it was, and the adults didn't need gun safes or trigger locks to enforce it."

That is also what I was taught, and yet I touched the guns anyway when no adults were around. That was back in the 1950s and 60s, and I sure many kids today would do the same. Lock up the guns if kids will be around, because you can never be sure what they will do.
 
There is no forgiveness: when guns are involved.
"Out of sight out of mind." Unless [you] open pandora's box and allow your children a look see before their matured enough to understand. Guns are serious killing tools.
Buy a decent gun safe. Liberty brand is about the best you can buy that I know of. With Liberty a few safe models can be ordered with a Mechanical dial verses a battery energized soft touch pad.
 
My father had two rifles. A 22 and a 30-30. They hung on the wall up high. That is where they resided. I was taught about guns from an early age. I got my own first gun at age 6, a BB gun. I got instruction along with the gun. Only one time did I get my butt kicked for doing something stupid with the gun. When I reached age 12 Dad told me I could get down the 22 and go hunt if I wanted. When I reached age 16 I bought a deer license. Well we only had one riding horse, so opening day of deer season we both get on the horse, with the one rifle and head up the canyon. Well a nice deer got up and I jumped off the horse. Dad handed me the rifle and said, "Shoot it! Pull a fine bead." So I did. Killed a deer with my first shot with that ol 30-30. It was a Winchester 94 with a long barrel.
 
But I grew up in an age when parents spanked their children for sassing and disobeying. Today, the kids would call the cops and have Mommy or Daddy arrested for child abuse over what was routine discipline when I was young. I find it difficult to think that the modern system produces better adult citizen
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Amen to that, and 100% right on point.
 
All the guns in my house are either in a very secure "gun" style safe with a mechanical dial or in quick access safes and out of sight. Aside from my carry gun these are all sitting with the action open and the clips in the safe next to them. I may sleep in various bedrooms depending on how my children are doing and how closely they need monitored at night so that necessitates multiple quick access safes. The quick access safes are out of sight and I doubt the kids know they are there. They are secured into place because if they find them I do not want them to be able to pull them out to "work" on later.

Seems to work well for my 3 and 4 year old and I don't think my 18 year old is even aware there are guns outside of the main safe even though is well versed in handling and gun safety.

I assume all guns are loaded. Storing guns and ammunition separately and assuming it works seems to me to be ignoring one of the fundamental tenants of gun safety (all guns are loaded). If I could not afford a safe they would have cable locks through any not in my immediate possession. Cable locks can be had around here at any police station and I would bet any gun manufacturer would send you a couple if you asked.
 
Don't put words in my mouth. I am certainly in favor of keeping children safe. What I am not in favor of is insulating them from exposure to firearms, and treating them in ways that don't teach them that they are, ultimately, responsible for their actions. Yes, until children reach the legal age of adulthood the parents are legally liable for what their children do, but that should not absolve the children of learning to be responsible human beings.
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I still don't see how any of my posts were in any way anti gun. :confused:
 
We can all relate to how we were brought up and in the same breath lament how children today are

The kiddos did not change... society and parental control, or lack of, did

We were quite comfortable in the 80s with our 3 to 11 YO children taught well by us
BUT! All children learn to explore and push limits...

Soldier Wife and I knew this because, as teenagers, we did.. and from what I know this is typical of all children advancing and exploring their world

Knowing that--- we took steps to mitigate the risks of live weapons accessible to them or cohorts.... as they entered their defiant teens

All the while trying to keep a reasonable home and personal defense posture

Point is---- no matter how well behaved and well trained your kids are...there is risk and there are age ranges where you simply must remove the dangerous item from their unsupervised access
 
I know of multiple teenagers recently who have used an unsecured firearm in the home to commit suicide. The parents, in these cases, had more defensible reasons than most to have firearms readily accessible due to their line of work.

It made me reconsider accessibility of firearms even with teenagers who are familiar with their safe handling.
 
I would welcome Dr. Myer's comments on this, but my understanding is that there are demonstrable deficiencies in reasoning, recognition of consequences, and planning abilities in the immature brain. I am all for teaching kids firearm safety, and for satisfying their curiosity, but doing that instead of securing firearms, as opposed to in addition to securing firearms, didn't happen at my house when I had kids, and it won't happen as my granddaughter gets older, either. (Even if she is the smartest kid ever, in the eyes of her totally rational and unbiased grampa.)
 
A neighbor lost a son at the tender age of 8 when a child visiting them found a revolver, pointed it at Jimmy and pulled the trigger. Kid died at the hospital. All of the "shoulda....coulda....woulda" baloney means nothing in this instance. We keep our guns locked up. Period. Our grand daughters come over and explore every inch of the house. But they can't get to the guns. We aren't antigun. We're anti stupid.
 
I have always felt that the best way to keep kids out of trouble with gun's is allow them access whit me there all the time. Kid want's to see a gun, sure, and then go through all the safety rules. Remove the curiosity, remove the danger.

I think the best reason for a locking cabnet is to keep anyone that breaks in away from the guns. But then my older brother did that and the guy that broke in got in the safe and took every gun he had.

We spend far to much time hiding thing's from kids and not enough time teaching them how to use them.
 
Wow! Some people just like to argue! AND have time to.
I store kids away from my guns.
I have a legally required locking safe. I have a lock box, mainly for my car, but only if need for work. I do keep a loaded Glock 26 in a hidden bedroom drawer.
Add kids and I would actually scrub the house for all hazards. The G26 would be secured then.
Kids with guns are bad news. I worry more about my neighborhood juveniles in general.
 
I have always felt that the best way to keep kids out of trouble with gun's is allow them access whit me there all the time. Kid want's to see a gun, sure, and then go through all the safety rules. Remove the curiosity, remove the danger.
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Do all kids act and think the same obviously not, so what might work for some will not work for others. The only way to be sure, is make sure they can not have unsupervised access to firearms. We should not be having this discussion its a no brainer for me, responsible firearms owners do not allow children anywhere near firearms without supervision. No different to any other potentially dangerous item / substance.
 
We have discussed this before. One's statement that you lectured your kids and nothing bad happened is not real evidence that this will always work.

Denying access unless supervised is much more secure. We know that kids today face tremendous social pressures leading to conformist, dangerous behavior. They are faced with demands that might lead to suicidal ideation. Substance abuse is common.

Good kids (who have been good for years) all of a sudden can face a social, personal crisis and your 'gun talk' goes down the drain. There is more to gun misuse that curious exploration of the unsecured firearm.

Manta49 is on the money. It is sometimes the case that more a parent in patriarchal mode and sure of his kid because of the lecture, the more likely the kid has a secret life.

A case in point from another domain, that I know of and mention in these discussions. A good kid - church, scouts, good grades, no girl problems, graduates HS with honors. His dad is a car nut with a hobby car - Chevy Chevelle SS 496. Babies the car, has a thousand coats of paint, wax, blah, blah. The kid is not allowed to drive it. After graduation, he asks Dad if he can take if for a spin. Dad says he can, only around the block, no friends, don't speed. They later find him DRT, wrapped around a pole with a car full of male friends. He hit at 100 mph.

Good kid - got the lecture.

Now, the flip side brought up is that some good kid saved the day with the family gun when the family gunfighter wasn't there or taken out of the fight. You can find cases so how to you balance it?

My point is that it is complex and you have to figure this out. Locking is probably the best way. You can't trust curiosity control and your patriarchal lectures.
 
My own experience is with my two boys. They are both good kids, grown with families of their own now.

One you could just tell him something once and he never questioned it. The other, my oldest always challenged your answer or at least questioned it. When he was about 10 or 12 he found the one gun that I didn't keep locked up. It was in the garage hidden in my toolbox. At this age they really started tinkering with things and I just didn't think about it.

I found out he showed it to a friend of his and that made me realize how fast something can happen. I was reloading in the garage when his friend came by on his bike looking for my son. He asked what I was doing and when I told him he said "I know where your gun is" and pointed to my toolbox.

My son knew guns and was educated on how to handle them even though he didn't show much interest at that age. My first thought was what would have happened if his friend said; "Cool" and grabbed it. That's when I decided that education is not enough and locked that one up too.

That really led me to developing my idea of a quick access safe and I am very thankful that nothing happened that day to my son or his friend.
 
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