Who Owns Guns?

[Anonymous]

Here are some interesting numbers from a Gallop poll on who owns guns:

http://reason.com/archives/2001/05/01/gun-ownership-the-numbers/

The numbers are too high for it just to be extremists.

[Anonymous]

We don't have guns but my husband grew up shooting and owning guns. On one of our first dates he took me skeet shooting at his parent's property. I had never even seen a gun from afar much less shot one. It was so much fun! I loved it. And I'd much rather teach my kids to respect firearms than to shelter them and expect them to just run the other way when they see one. That's when accidents happen.

[Anonymous]

One of my childhood friends killed him self at age 14 (by accident) while handling his father's handgun. He thought it was unloaded; he found the key (where it not very well hidden) and got it out to show a friend.

Kids are curious; they're bound to want to see, touch, and hold the gun. They will find thekey, no matter how well you think you've hidden it. Remember how curious you were about taboo stuff when you were little? I certainly recall snooping for x-mas gifts, diaries, etc. I imagine if there had been something like a gun safe key, my brother and I woul dhave snooped for that, too.

That's why there will never be a gun in my house. And my kids won't play at your house, either.

[Anonymous]

Here is a profile on gun ownership in America from 2005. http://www.gallup.com/poll/20098/gun-ownership-use-america.aspx

It is hard to argue that gun ownership is a fringe activity:

23% of Democrats own guns
42% of households have one gun owner.
47% of men own a gun. (13% of women, too)
33% of white people own a gun.
BTW only 1 in 6 nonwhites do.

I am not pro-gun, but these numbers are too large to attribute them to extreme political views or "very damaged individuals".

[Anonymous]

I've never been asked before a playdate if we have a gun in the house. For the people who say their kids don't play at gun owner's houses do you ask?

[Anonymous]

For those who don't let their kids play at houses where there are guns, or guns that are not stored properly, I have a question:

Do you specifically ask? If so, how?

My take:
My father hunted. I was vehemently anti-gun for a long, long time. Then Castle Rock v. Gonzales happened. Then I met a lot of women who left abusive partners, and own guns. Then I left my own abusive partner. I did a bit of a 180 on handguns. That said, I don't own one and won't bring one into the house. I don't trust myself or my child enough.

My question is a serious one.

[Anonymous]

I found out this week - after the fact - that the family hosting a playdate this week had guns in the house. We won't be going back and I'll be asking in the future. It never crossed my mind to ask beforehand because I honestly didn't expect that my 5 year old would be (a) playing in the host father's closet with her friend and (b) that there would be guns this there and (c) that she'd be so fascinated by the guns they found. Yikes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've never been asked before a playdate if we have a gun in the house. For the people who say their kids don't play at gun owner's houses do you ask?

never thought of it but now that you mentioned i'll start asking.
i just learned that the family i nanny for owns guns and i gave them notice.
i lost a dear friend due to gun mishandling and my cousin got shot also in such situation.
they both were not yet 15 yo when it happened.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of my childhood friends killed him self at age 14 (by accident) while handling his father's handgun. He thought it was unloaded; he found the key (where it not very well hidden) and got it out to show a friend.

Kids are curious; they're bound to want to see, touch, and hold the gun. They will find thekey, no matter how well you think you've hidden it. Remember how curious you were about taboo stuff when you were little? I certainly recall snooping for x-mas gifts, diaries, etc. I imagine if there had been something like a gun safe key, my brother and I woul dhave snooped for that, too.

That's why there will never be a gun in my house. And my kids won't play at your house, either.

There are gun safes that may only be activated by finger scan. You can also do what my father in law did when DH was growing up: keep rifle disassembled and locked and don't keep ammunition in the house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of my childhood friends killed him self at age 14 (by accident) while handling his father's handgun. He thought it was unloaded; he found the key (where it not very well hidden) and got it out to show a friend.

Kids are curious; they're bound to want to see, touch, and hold the gun. They will find thekey, no matter how well you think you've hidden it. Remember how curious you were about taboo stuff when you were little? I certainly recall snooping for x-mas gifts, diaries, etc. I imagine if there had been something like a gun safe key, my brother and I woul dhave snooped for that, too.

That's why there will never be a gun in my house. And my kids won't play at your house, either.

I would not use a keyed gun safe!! In this day and age there are much better types of gun safes that a child can't unlock, they are more expensive but to me if you are spending money on a gun the safe needs to be the best you can find, period.

Also, there is no substitute for proper training of the curious child. While much simpler to teach, you do teach your children not to mis-handle knives or the food processor, not to touch the hot stove, not to call 911 if it isn't an emergancy, ect. If you have a gun in your house you have to know how to properly teach your child, or take him or her to a childs gun awareness class. And since there are so many people who have guns who don't teach their children properly I personally would be proactive and take my child to a gun awareness class so he isn't lured in by his friends who don't know any better.

[Anonymous]

I think all children should be taught gun safety because you never know when they might come across a gun. Always assume a gun is loaded until proven otherwise. Never, ever point it at a person or pet.

We have guns. My husband had them when we met. We both grew up with gun safety and have shot at pop cans, clay pigeons and other targets. Never animals. We were also taught at young ages (I was ~6) how to handle a gun safely. My dad, brother, uncle, cousin, grandfathers are all hunters.

We now have some of my FIL's guns b/c he has alzheimers and cannot be trusted with weapons anymore.

We don't keep ammunition in the house though. If we were ever to take the guns to a range (or to my parents' country place), we'd use ammo there, but not bring any back home with us.

We bought a BB gun for our DC last summer (4 at the time) as a first learning experience on how to handle a gun safely and that it can be fun and challenging to shoot at pop cans.

We've never had anyone ask if we have guns at home before a playdate. Nor have we asked.

[Anonymous]

There was a fascinating segment on 20/20 a while back called "If Only I Had A Gun" in which gun-owners who believed themselves to be well-trained and experienced in handling guns, and who professed to own them for self-defense purposes, were put in a mock Virginia Tech/Columbine type situation where an armed intruder entered a classroom situation and started shooting. They knew this was a simulation (with paint guns) and knew something was going to happen. EVERY last one of them either (a) froze and never got off a shot; (b) shot and missed the "bad guy"' (c) shot and hit innocent bystanders or (d) themselves got shot. The law enforcement officials who were interviewed were not surprised -- they said that unless you are very well trained and can overcome the normal adrenaline rush that would occur in such a situation, you are likely to be unable to respond in such a situation. This is why law-enforcement and the military train constantly to respond to these situations. I think the police officer interviewed said if you even let up training for 3 to 4 weeks, you lose your ability to respond. And by training they aren't talking about target practice -- they are talking about dealing with high-stress, emergency type situations.

All of the subjects of the study were shocked. I think some of the footage is on You Tube.

The show also set up cameras where children were given gun safety lectures, and then immediately left alone in a room full of toys, including a fake gun. Almost every kid pulled out and waved the gun around, while their horrified parents watched from behind a two way glass. Finally, they had an experiment where they hid a gun in a garage and hired young men (teenagers to early twenties) to "clean" the garage. Almost every guy pulled out the gun and messed around with it, and several of them would likely have shot themselves in the head had it been loaded.

Food for thought.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There was a fascinating segment on 20/20 a while back called "If Only I Had A Gun" in which gun-owners who believed themselves to be well-trained and experienced in handling guns, and who professed to own them for self-defense purposes, were put in a mock Virginia Tech/Columbine type situation where an armed intruder entered a classroom situation and started shooting. They knew this was a simulation (with paint guns) and knew something was going to happen. EVERY last one of them either (a) froze and never got off a shot; (b) shot and missed the "bad guy"' (c) shot and hit innocent bystanders or (d) themselves got shot. The law enforcement officials who were interviewed were not surprised -- they said that unless you are very well trained and can overcome the normal adrenaline rush that would occur in such a situation, you are likely to be unable to respond in such a situation. This is why law-enforcement and the military train constantly to respond to these situations. I think the police officer interviewed said if you even let up training for 3 to 4 weeks, you lose your ability to respond. And by training they aren't talking about target practice -- they are talking about dealing with high-stress, emergency type situations.

All of the subjects of the study were shocked. I think some of the footage is on You Tube.

The show also set up cameras where children were given gun safety lectures, and then immediately left alone in a room full of toys, including a fake gun. Almost every kid pulled out and waved the gun around, while their horrified parents watched from behind a two way glass. Finally, they had an experiment where they hid a gun in a garage and hired young men (teenagers to early twenties) to "clean" the garage. Almost every guy pulled out the gun and messed around with it, and several of them would likely have shot themselves in the head had it been loaded.

Food for thought.

thank you for this. Ugh. I hate guns. I don't want my kids playing at houses where there are guns. People on this forum are more stupid than I thought -- so many of them think guns are okay to keep in a house with kids. They think they're safe because they're locked away. Why? Why? Why?

[SAM2]

Anonymous wrote:Here is a profile on gun ownership in America from 2005. http://www.gallup.com/poll/20098/gun-ownership-use-america.aspx ....

I'm curious. Does anyone have statistics on handgun ownership? I wonder what percentage of those total firearms numbers are attributable to rifles. I'd imagine a fairly high percentage, but I don't really know.

[Anonymous]

No ammo in the house; unloaded gun in a locked safe. It can be safe to have guns in the house. You just can't be stupid about it.