Question (esp. for those who have firearms in their homes)

[Anonymous]

My boyfriend has had a gun for over 20 years, and I would seriously kick him and his gun out of the house if he ever did that. I would not let him back until he took a gun safety class of some kind AND changed that code. That is BULLSHIT.

[Anonymous]

Oh bullshit. We had guns in our house growing up. I knew damn well to leave them alone. Maybe your kids don't know any better, or don't know how to mind, but I did and mine do. They've seen guns kill animals, they know what they do and that when they're old enough, they will learn how to use them as well.

Contrary to popular opinion, a two year old knows what no means and can and will obey rules. Try growing a backbone and issuing some discipline.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh bullshit. We had guns in our house growing up. I knew damn well to leave them alone. Maybe your kids don't know any better, or don't know how to mind, but I did and mine do. They've seen guns kill animals, they know what they do and that when they're old enough, they will learn how to use them as well.

Contrary to popular opinion, a two year old knows what no means and can and will obey rules. Try growing a backbone and issuing some discipline.

In my experience as a teacher most kids whose parents believe in this kind crap don't learn that "no means no", they learn "wait until mom isn't looking!" Not the lesson I'd want in this case.

[Anonymous]

In our house guns are kept unloaded and locked up in a safe. I think you need to remind hubby to be much more careful. I would not get hysterical, he will think you're over-reacting, but I would be serious and even consider telling him that if it happens again, he will need to get rid of them. This is a serious safety issue.

My father likes guns and collects them so I grew up with them. He kept all his guns in a gun safe except for one that was for "defense". It was kept unloaded with the ammo separate, but still not a great idea. We knew not to touch that gun and I never did, but I wouldn't be surprised if my brother messed with it when my parents weren't around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What bothers me isn't that he forgot. It's that he clearly was not thinking about the potential risk to the kiddos. Why does it feel like more often the women of the house are the ones doing the worrying.

OP here. YES. This this this. He simply does not think about these things and does not have the same safety concerns as I do. So by default, the kids' safety vis a vis the guns (HIS guns) falls totally on my shoulders. So now here I am researching the best gun safes on the Internet. Aaarrrgh.

[Anonymous]

Um... Dear teacher, I daresay that you are dealing with children raised under today's pitiful excuse for parenting, where kids are "redirected" rather than told no, and sat in corners rather than spanked. Trust me, we listened. My kids listened as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Um... Dear teacher, I daresay that you are dealing with children raised under today's pitiful excuse for parenting, where kids are "redirected" rather than told no, and sat in corners rather than spanked. Trust me, we listened. My kids listened as well.

The studies on this are pretty definitive. Kids will play with guns, even if given a less on how dangerous they are before hand. Are you really going to say that if your two year old finds a gun and shots herself "Well it's her own fault, She should have listened."? I can assure you that Child Protective Services won't see it that way. An adult who owns a gun is require to make it inaccessible to children. If children find the gun and are injured or injure someone else, the gun owner is always charged with a crime.

[Anonymous]

If the child is taught: not just told once, that guns are off limits, and is used to respecting limits, they will comply. I agree that most modern children with parents to lazy to teach discipline will do the exact opposite of what they're told.

[Anonymous]

I'd rather be a lazy parent with an undisciplined child who is still breathing than one whose kid shoots themselves because I'm pretending we are too superior in our parenting skills for proper safety measures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the child is taught: not just told once, that guns are off limits, and is used to respecting limits, they will comply. I agree that most modern children with parents to lazy to teach discipline will do the exact opposite of what they're told.

Dude. I own guns and this is seriously dangerous thinking. You can not expect young kids to police themselves, and of you think they will 100% of the time, you are seriously wrong. Seriously.