I have been around guns all my life and would never have a response of smirking if someone was concerned about gun safety. Wow looks like a lot of people need to go to some gun safet classes.

Anonymous wrote:I'm your typical liberal urbanite traveling back home for the holidays with my two young kids and staying amongst relatives who have guns. Each year I send a reminder for them to secure their weapons. Each year I'm met with eye rolls and smirks "it's taken care of" but an unwillingness to discuss how their guns have been secured. Are they unloaded? Are they locked or just placed on a high shelf? Etc? And they almost seem offended that I would question them. But there smirking and eye rolls and lack of transparency doesn't inspire confidence that they take securing them seriously.

I've continued to visit, and just watch my kids extra closely, and won't leave the kids alone with these relatives. We've discussed with them what to do in case they come across a gun.

I understand there is a culture around owning guns, and inadmittingly hate it. But I also get the second amendment is what it is and people have their rights and accept that. But the vagueness and cagey behavior I don't get. Is is too much to ask to be able to have frank discussions? I assume there is some best practices for keeping kids safe, and is it wrong to assume a responsible gun owner would be able to talk about them?

What am I missing?

I just read this again -- how do you know you're met with eyerolls and smirks? You indicated you "send" a reminder -- I presume by e-mail? Do then continue to persist to interrogate them when you arrive?

You can tell by the responses why there are so many gun deaths in this country.

Op it is smart for you to do what you do. Many of the people who own guns become very causal with them, keeping them load and in easy reach. Any responsible owner would not take your concern lightly. The fact that they have such a reaction should worry you. I have seen many accidental discharges from these type of people. Talk to your children about what they should do if they find a gun or someone else(like othe kids) shown them a gun. Gun safety is no smirking matter.

Anonymous wrote:OP. you should continue protecting your children by not leaving them alone with the gun owners and educating them on how to respond if they see a gun. Stop the lectures though. They are not going to change for you and are more likely to ignore your repeated requests

On the contrary, I'm not a gun fan by any means, but I would see this as an opportunity for a family member who WAS a gun enthusiast to spend some time WITH my child educating them about guns. They would do a far better job than I would. Heck, I'd tag along and hope to learn a thing or two myself.

While I do think it's kind of weird that your relatives wouldn't give you the details on how they are stored, one of the tenets of responsible gun ownership is that you shouldn't give specifics as to where they are stored or how they are secured, because that makes them a more likely target for theft or a break in. Again, I think it is ridiculous that relatives wouldn't make an exception to that for a relative they know well with small kids, but among the gun people I know (most of my family), it is pretty off-limits to discuss the specifics of how & where their guns are stored without a compelling reason (they would consider small kids in the house a compelling reason).

Try this, get y9ru kids to understand how a gun works, what it is like to shoot one, what they are used for etc.

I shot my first gun at 6. My education to guns started there but still has not ended. Don't be afraid of them but learn about them.

Maybe your kids will find they like them and might take up hunting, target shooting, skeet shooting etc etc.

Seriously wtf OP! DH is an avid hunter (but you wouldn't know, we don't act hick or talk about it). All guns are always kept unloaded.... Handguns have a lock through the barrel. You're way overreacting.

OP. you should continue protecting your children by not leaving them alone with the gun owners and educating them on how to respond if they see a gun. Stop the lectures though. They are not going to change for you and are more likely to ignore your repeated requests

You are missing a hotel.

What you're missing, OP, is that it's not them, it's you.

They know that you, the "typical liberal urbanite," know nothing about guns and gun culture, yet you hate guns and gun culture, and that this attitude permeates every aspect of your interaction with these people. They don't want to waste their time trying to educate you, because you don't want to listen to their point of view. You have already made up your mind that they are hopeless imbeciles and you act that way.

They love your kids, but believe me, they are counting the days until you leave.

The way you approach this is flawed. Your relatives perceive that you are fearful and ignorant, and they treat you like a child.

Why don't you start with internet forums for gun enthusiasts, and seek information on different methods for home storage there? Then you will get a better feel for what attitude to take with your relatives, the one that will elicit more respect for you, and more information, which is what you are after.
It's good to appear confident and somewhat knowledgeable, even if you aren't really.

You can start off with the fact that there isn't ONE gun culture.

Anonymous wrote:You don't really do this, do you? I mean, could you be more condescending?

I could see expressing your viewpoint on this once. But every year?

I can see doing this every year if the relatives are never clear about how they secure their weapons and seemingly defensive about having to even answer the question.
And I say this as a person with a weapon in my home. A weapon that is locked, ammo locked in a different secure location, and weapon would be hard for me to reach without effort, much less a child.

You don't really do this, do you? I mean, could you be more condescending?

I could see expressing your viewpoint on this once. But every year?

I'm your typical liberal urbanite traveling back home for the holidays with my two young kids and staying amongst relatives who have guns. Each year I send a reminder for them to secure their weapons. Each year I'm met with eye rolls and smirks "it's taken care of" but an unwillingness to discuss how their guns have been secured. Are they unloaded? Are they locked or just placed on a high shelf? Etc? And they almost seem offended that I would question them. But there smirking and eye rolls and lack of transparency doesn't inspire confidence that they take securing them seriously.

I've continued to visit, and just watch my kids extra closely, and won't leave the kids alone with these relatives. We've discussed with them what to do in case they come across a gun.

I understand there is a culture around owning guns, and inadmittingly hate it. But I also get the second amendment is what it is and people have their rights and accept that. But the vagueness and cagey behavior I don't get. Is is too much to ask to be able to have frank discussions? I assume there is some best practices for keeping kids safe, and is it wrong to assume a responsible gun owner would be able to talk about them?

What am I missing?