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Cheryl Gives Son Gun for Birthday


GeoBQn

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Wait, he shot the dog because he thought it had killed the goat? That's pretty out there.

I get that you don't want to keep a dog on a farm if it kills livestock, but shooting it?

These people are kind of terrifying. No wonder the child wants to kill an animal to please his father. I am all for hunting, and I know sometimes you have to put animals down on a farm, but these stories are creepy as hell.

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I grew up in a very gun friendly house. I got my first .22 at 13 it was even pink! I also had to take courses ith the game and fish department. I grew up in Arizona where you dont have to have a conceal carry permit and all you need to buy a gun is a drivers license. I see no issue if he is properly taught gun safety and understands that they are dangerous if you are careless

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I have to ask, because I truly don't understand...how is a 13 year old mature enough to have a gun? Much less a 8-10 year old? I am from Alabama, so I am not unfamiliar with hunting, but it seems ridiculous to me to think a child should handle firearms.

I agree. I have a 13-year-old son who is very mature for his age, and I still won't let him shoot a gun, even though he has asked to learn. Much of it has to do with my own personal level of comfort as a parent in thinking he is too young. I'm not planning on keeping a gun in the house if he does learn down the line, but I also think it's the sort of lesson that can keep for when he is much older and has the emotional maturity to deal with the responsibility of it.

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I asked my husband, who grew up in Montana with a father that was very into hunting, when we received his first gun. He told me that he was thirteen as well. I then asked him if we had a thirteen year old (we have no children) would he let that child have a rifle? His answer: "Hell no."

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I have to ask, because I truly don't understand...how is a 13 year old mature enough to have a gun? Much less a 8-10 year old? I am from Alabama, so I am not unfamiliar with hunting, but it seems ridiculous to me to think a child should handle firearms.

Well, you supervise them, and have rules around it. Just because you give your kid something doesn't mean you then walk away with no framework around it. I mean, I know there's lots of shitty parents that do, but...*shrug* depends on the kid, and the structure you put into place around it.

My 12 year old has a cell phone. We have strict parameters around it, because...she's 12. She is supervised/monitored because...she is 12. She isn't allowed to run around on the internet doing whatever she wants because...12. She's allowed to stay home alone--for a few hours. Because we allow her to stay home with rules and expectations for a set time period, does not mean that we would allow her to stay home alone while we went away for the weekend.

If my kids had grown up hunting (sadly they didn't) and had their "own" guns, they would be allowed to take them--hunting. Not shooting in the backyard, not for show and tell day at school, not playing hide and seek with their friends. When we were not hunting, they would be locked in the gun safe--which they would not have access to the code or key.

I'm all for people deciding what they're comfortable with with their own kids maturity levels as long as there's some basic principles of safety. (Like, maybe my relatively mature 12 year old who's completed a babysitting course, knows the neighbors, and is more importantly comfortable being at home for 2 hours while I go to a movie and has always obeyed the rules set out for her in that regard is fine staying home alone, but a 12 year old who has a developmental disability and is low functioning or a kid of my daughter's maturity who is *stressed out and doesn't feel comfortable* being home alone for a couple of hours should not be forced to do so just because they've hit a magic number.)

But I've had people tell me I was a shitty parent for letting my kids play in a group on our property when they were 7-9 (along with basic rules and with the windows open so I could hear them) instead of having them in LOS the whole time, or allowing them to play video games at all, ect.

If you're going to go hunting as a family or whatever, I'd WANT the kid to have some semblance of ownership and responsibility about it. I wouldn't take a kid who wasn't willing or able to participate in the butchering, cleaning, ect. It's all part of the package. It's the people who turn guns into a Rootin' Tootin' Hero thing that scare the crap out of me (and the people who don't even bother to teach their kids anything about firearms except for they're bad). Even though my children are not allowed to handle firearms (I have explicitly told them so), they know what to do if they see a gun, calmly. Hell, we even go over basic crowd safety and emergency situations at school and in public.

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Hunters ed, and license, follow the damn rules

And God.only knows what that stupid.kid was killing with his bow and arrow. Also,'because of.poor impulse control boys n homes.with access.to'guns are more likely to kill themselves. I'm not a Hunter nor is my husband. Both of my.com son's are interested, they.have.bows, and they only take them out only under adult supervision.

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I'm slightly weird for a leftist in that I don't have much of an issue with gun ownership - heck, I'd have a gun if it wasn't highly unlikely I'd get a permit in a city ;)

There were some concerning things about Cheryl's post though. One is the tying up of gun ownership with masculinity. This is pretty shite as a way of looking at a. life and b. weaponry (and "coincidentally" it's the same attitude that you'll find amongst gang members who own guns). Yes, it makes you a Big Real Man if you can shoot things. Right. That's a healthy thing to believe.

(The second was the confusion between bow hunting without his dad to supervise (I hope like hell SOMEBODY was), killing deer and getting a .22. I am no gun expert but as people have pointed out, you can't use .22 to take deer. )

From where I'm sitting, I can see my walking stick. I have to use that sometimes because one of my feet is pretty much completely fucked. So I use it now and again to achieve a desired end, which is getting to places without falling over. No-one would say that using a walking stick is a sexxxay masculine act, but they are willing to say that using another kind of tool to achieve an end makes you a Real Man, and getting said tool marks Your Passage Into Manhood. That doesn't make any sense to me.

Also, this:

One of his most favorite pastimes is donning army clothes and walkie-talkies, with his face camouflaged with charcoal, and tromping through the woods with his brother looking for enemy spies. He is a true boy!

Not only is the "enemy spies" thing straight out of the 1950s and giving me disturbing Orwellian flashbacks, how does that make him a "true boy"? Because there are no women in the army, no women with an interest in counterintelligence and no women who like mucking about in woods?

If this kid follows his interests and ends up in the military, he is working with women, guaranteed. It might be better if his mum could stop worshipping his masculinity for a moment and, instead, prepared him for this reality. By not pretending only boys are interested in this stuff.

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"gun culture". .

It is strange to associate a gun (a weapon made ​​to kill people) and the word culture. (And I'm not totally against gun, I'm just against peope who have their gun at their home.)

The weapons are the number 1 reason why I am very scared to go to America. This was the reason why parents, when I was in high school, had refused a school trip to the USA.

There is a year, a family of hunters with whom I worked, lived a horrible tragedy. The associatoin of hunting where I was asked to leave the weapons in the strong-box in the house of the association. The family refused. Their 23 year old son - educated to the security with weapons - went to get the gun and killed himself with. After this, everybody in the association leave their weapons in the strong-box of the association.

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I live in a country where guns are prohibited. The only ones who can have guns are sport shooters and hunters, their records (legal, psychological) are examined, and weapons must be stored in a locked safe (police often check if it's done, if the police see that your gun is not in a locked safe, you lost your right to have a gun). I am also an old hunter (Not now because of my health). I am horrified to read this.

A weapon is not a game. A gun is not a gift. It's not for a 13, 14, or 15 years old. That's it. Endpoint.

Same in Spain. A 13 years-old cannot even hold a gun. Last year, the 13 years-old King's grandson was (illegally) holding a hunting gun and he shooted himself in his foot. It was a major scandal, not only because it's illegal, but because his father allowed the teenager to do such a dangerous thing.

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I'm sorry, but I can't respect 'gun culture' or even 'hunting culture' as a thing when children are entrusted with firearms. No way.

And don't get me wrong. I don't hate guns or hunting. I am interested in guns. I would love to learn to target shoot. However, I cannot respect anyone who thinks guns are okay for children, no matter how carefully they have been taught gun safety. See Koala's story. I don't mind kids being brought along on hunts so much, or watching target shooting, but why do they need to handle a gun at that age? Why can't it wait until they're at least old enough to drive? You wouldn't trust a child with a car and it's just as much a deadly weapon.

That awful story about the puppy is not unfamiliar to me. The one person I know who owns a gun in Australia is my uncle, who is a farmer. They always have pet dogs, but if one of them kills a sheep then my uncle will shoot it because you cannot have farm dogs mauling the livestock. I think it's awful, and thankfully the last dog he had who mauled livestock was rehomed rather than killed. However, my uncle has PTSD and other mental issues from being a conscript in Vietnam and I know a lot of his gun-happy stuff has its roots in that trauma. He's not just a heartless person.

I don't mean anyone any offense with the stuff about not respecting gun/hunting culture. I don't respect people who give guns to children but I do respect hunters who are safe and careful and who eat what they kill rather than killing for sport or trophies.

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I personally find it horrifying and could never imagine buying anyone, much less a child, a gun. I find it hard to understand a culture where giving guns is a normal and acceptable thing to do - particularly in light of all the mass shootings/gun violence that seems to happen in the US. It seems particularly ironic to me that Kinder eggs are illegal in the US but guns are A-OK.

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I personally find it horrifying and could never imagine buying anyone, much less a child, a gun. I find it hard to understand a culture where giving guns is a normal and acceptable thing to do - particularly in light of all the mass shootings/gun violence that seems to happen in the US. It seems particularly ironic to me that Kinder eggs are illegal in the US but guns are A-OK.

I completely agree with that. The kinder thing just really struck me since kinder eggs were mentioned in the Zsu pregnancy post as being banned in the US for safety reasons.

Incidentally, I saw a lot of Americans here really enjoy kinder chocolate. You can get it in chocolate bar form here, so I'm sure you can find it in the US. I think they're called kinder bueno or something. It tastes exactly like the eggs and it's awesome.

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Where I come from, a 13 year old having his own gun and hunting with daddy is fairly common. Honestly, it terrifies me thinking of a child using a gun.

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Koala, your story is exactly why we chose to never let our children handle guns and why there were never any guns in the house (except for the exceptionally well hidden rifle gift in the locked attic). I could not imagine having to live with the fact that my son accidentally (or purposefully - male teens are notorious for using guns in suicides) killed himself or a friend showing off. When I was a kid, every friend I had whose family owned guns would break them out and show off as soon as the parents left. And anyone who thinks locking up a gun in a gun cabinet is safe - is out of their freaking minds. Those little bastards can pick a lock faster than a seasoned locksmith. I don't know, maybe with the newer safes it would be better but I believe they still have a combination or digital pad and for a motivated teen, that wouldn't be much of a barrier. My husband has a lust affair with firearms and he put it away until the kids left home and were settled into their own digs.

Oh oh oh and the fact that husband shot the dog. He's lucky I wasn't there because I would have shot him. That shows the mentality of that family right there. I live in farm country, have always lived here, my next door neighbor is literally a barn with a corn dryer, and I have NEVER heard nor seen of anyone shooting their family pet. NEVER. Believe me, word gets around when your population tops at 1000. If an animal has to be put down, it goes to our very reasonably priced vet. Cheryl's son will not be shooting deer with a .22 so what exactly will he be shooting? Rabbits, squirrels, cats, dogs - you know, just for shits and giggles? Are they going to eat the animals Junior kills? What makes Cheryl's son's new gun more worrisome is that in Indiana - especially if it's small town Indiana - the kids get bored. What do bored kids do when there aren't a lot of options? Well, they get into shit they shouldn't. I know because both I and my brother did it.

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Well, you supervise them, and have rules around it. Just because you give your kid something doesn't mean you then walk away with no framework around it. I mean, I know there's lots of shitty parents that do, but...*shrug* depends on the kid, and the structure you put into place around it.

My 12 year old has a cell phone. We have strict parameters around it, because...she's 12. She is supervised/monitored because...she is 12. She isn't allowed to run around on the internet doing whatever she wants because...12. She's allowed to stay home alone--for a few hours. Because we allow her to stay home with rules and expectations for a set time period, does not mean that we would allow her to stay home alone while we went away for the weekend.

If my kids had grown up hunting (sadly they didn't) and had their "own" guns, they would be allowed to take them--hunting. Not shooting in the backyard, not for show and tell day at school, not playing hide and seek with their friends. When we were not hunting, they would be locked in the gun safe--which they would not have access to the code or key.

I'm all for people deciding what they're comfortable with with their own kids maturity levels as long as there's some basic principles of safety. (Like, maybe my relatively mature 12 year old who's completed a babysitting course, knows the neighbors, and is more importantly comfortable being at home for 2 hours while I go to a movie and has always obeyed the rules set out for her in that regard is fine staying home alone, but a 12 year old who has a developmental disability and is low functioning or a kid of my daughter's maturity who is *stressed out and doesn't feel comfortable* being home alone for a couple of hours should not be forced to do so just because they've hit a magic number.)

But I've had people tell me I was a shitty parent for letting my kids play in a group on our property when they were 7-9 (along with basic rules and with the windows open so I could hear them) instead of having them in LOS the whole time, or allowing them to play video games at all, ect.

If you're going to go hunting as a family or whatever, I'd WANT the kid to have some semblance of ownership and responsibility about it. I wouldn't take a kid who wasn't willing or able to participate in the butchering, cleaning, ect. It's all part of the package. It's the people who turn guns into a Rootin' Tootin' Hero thing that scare the crap out of me (and the people who don't even bother to teach their kids anything about firearms except for they're bad). Even though my children are not allowed to handle firearms (I have explicitly told them so), they know what to do if they see a gun, calmly. Hell, we even go over basic crowd safety and emergency situations at school and in public.

But a cellphone isn't a deadly weapon. Obviously you can't supervise your kids 24/7 and I'm sure your kids are smart enough to listen to you about gun safety, but.. Why risk giving a child a gun in the first place? Why not wait until they are at least 16/18 and are really grown? It scares me so much to think of children or teenagers with guns and reading the stories here, doesn't it scare you?

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But a cellphone isn't a deadly weapon. Obviously you can't supervise your kids 24/7 and I'm sure your kids are smart enough to listen to you about gun safety, but.. Why risk giving a child a gun in the first place? Why not wait until they are at least 16/18 and are really grown? It scares me so much to think of children or teenagers with guns and reading the stories here, doesn't it scare you?

I was speaking to the idea of maturity should not be necessarily tied to a number for age. I know many 21 year olds that I would not wish to have a gun, even though legally they'd be entitled to have one. I don't think a lot of 16 year olds are ready to drive, either. I also don't think there's a magic age for every kid when it comes to having stuff like that. Is 13 an okay age to go hunting and use a gun that they're responsible for? Hmmm....depends, on the kid. Maybe. Maybe not ever, while they live in my household.

It's important to keep to the big picture when you're parenting, IMO. The people who don't supervise their children's cell phone usage scare me because that's far more common than people who allow their kid to "have" a gun. Do you know how much damage children do to each other and themselves with cell phone usage and bullying, ect?

Also, if you feel like going back and reading my posts, I stated that I have made the personal decision to not own firearms at this time, and gave my reasons why.

I have to say, I really don't make my parenting decisions or even really live my life according to fear these days. I've heard the same stuff being said about me allowing my children to play on our wooded property without my direct supervision. (How horrible of you, aren't you scared they'll be raped/kidnapped/eaten by animals/fall down a hole and die?) I think I will be more worried about my children when they get their drivers' licenses, than anything else.

I choose to educate my children about gun safety because it benefits them. I'm not afraid to ask questions of parents I know (or don't) whose houses my kids go to about whether they own firearms and how they're stored, and make decisions accordingly. I do not ask in the spirit of fear or judgement (I can even show them my CCW permit, which I stubbornly get so that it's not just lunatics that have it, even though I don't own a firearm--BUT it opens up discussions with gun owners, so there you go. :D)

But no, guns do not scare me. Careless people, people that see them as some sort of panacea to all danger, and people who fear them so much they lose their heads over it scare me though. I don't like extremes. I also don't like forbidden fruit. One of the benefits to hunting is that people (adults and children) see the impact of firearm usage--death. Purposeful death. What troubles me is when people start separating out the two.

Until the 2nd amendment is interpreted differently in the US, I choose to err on the side of teaching my children pragmatically about guns, and speaking calmly about them, while not sugarcoating things. To be honest, I really don't care if people respect that point of view or not, but it seems to work for us.

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Late to the discussion (I haven't read all the posts):

I really don't have a problem with a 13yo getting a .22 IF he/she is taught respect and safety in dealing with firearms. I grew up with guns and also with a father and mother who ingrained gun safety into us. All of our guns were locked up and we only shot when my Dad was there. We were also taught that if we see an unlocked gun at someone's house, to leave and tell an adult immediately. As a result, guns were never a forbidden wonder to my brother or I. DH and I own a few guns, all of which are locked into their respective safes. We shoot for sport and I used to shoot competitively (tactical and trap). When our children are the right age, we will bring them along just like my Dad brough me along.

Having said all that, what I've gleaned of this family is that they don't seem to be into the whole safety aspect (letting your pre-teen learn how to and go bow-hunt on his own?!).

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I have to ask, because I truly don't understand...how is a 13 year old mature enough to have a gun? Much less a 8-10 year old? I am from Alabama, so I am not unfamiliar with hunting, but it seems ridiculous to me to think a child should handle firearms.

Well...ideally the 13yo doesn't have unfettered access to the gun. It's locked up unless said 13yo is being supervised by a responsible adult (if not a parent, then someone the parents trust and have given permission to). Most of these stories about kids shooting kids indicate that the kid had access to the gun whenever they wanted.

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Well...ideally the 13yo doesn't have unfettered access to the gun. It's locked up unless said 13yo is being supervised by a responsible adult (if not a parent, then someone the parents trust and have given permission to). Most of these stories about kids shooting kids indicate that the kid had access to the gun whenever they wanted.

Exactly. This was also what I was alluding to in my other post as well. Giving your child a potentially dangerous/problematic item/activity doesn't mean it's all or nothing.

12 year old with cellphone != no parental controls/rules around its use.

16 year old with drivers license != unfettered access to family vehicle.

12 year old staying home alone != Mom and dad taking off for the week

To me, assuming that anyone who would let their kid have their "own" gun means that the child has unrestricted access to it is on the level of saying that if you leave your child at home for a couple of hours you must be okay for you going away for a week and leaving them to fend for themselves. For normal people, that's just...ludicrous. And yet, unfortunately, there are a lot of morons out there.

That being said, I think all gun deaths involving an unsecured firearm should be prosecuted as negligent homicides against whomever the gun is registered to and any adults who were legally responsible to be supervising at the time. There is no such thing as "accidental discharge" that kills someone. It is always 100 percent negligent. Period.

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I went to school with a young man (12) who grew up in a family of avid hunters. He was taught gun safety from the time he was knee high to a puddle duck. One day after school he walked home with a friend, and while showing off his father's gun he managed to shoot himself in the head. He died instantly. They had to literally reconstruct half of his face for the funeral. Why am I being so graphic? Because people need to understand that you DO NOT give a 12 year old (or a 13 year old) a gun. No matter how many safety lectures you give them, you can't get around the fact that the impulse centers in their brains aren't done developing. Foresight: they don't have it. I get that Cheryl's stupid, dog shooting husband thinks it's "manly", but there is nothing manly about a child accidentally shooting themselves or someone else. The kid I knew never grew up to be a man...he will forever be a 12 year old boy. No parent should ever have to bury a child over something so senseless, and certainly no child should ever die because they were give responsibility they weren't yet capable of handling. If I close my eyes I can still see that boy's mother standing at the front of the church screaming for a child that would never come back...

That was irresponsibility on the parents' part. They were not responsible gun owners. The guns should have been locked where he did not have access to them. Guns can be safely used by kids, but parents HAVE to be responsible. They are the adults. They are the ones who should have foresight and take the necessary precautions to protect their children. It's terrible what happened to your classmate. Something like that should not have happened. That's why I support stricter gun laws. Too many idiots who do not follow proper precautions out there. Mandatory classes, licensing with renewals just like a car, stricter background checks, etc. It won't solve the problem, but it's a good place to start.

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I was speaking to the idea of maturity should not be necessarily tied to a number for age. I know many 21 year olds that I would not wish to have a gun, even though legally they'd be entitled to have one. I don't think a lot of 16 year olds are ready to drive, either. I also don't think there's a magic age for every kid when it comes to having stuff like that. Is 13 an okay age to go hunting and use a gun that they're responsible for? Hmmm....depends, on the kid. Maybe. Maybe not ever, while they live in my household.

It's important to keep to the big picture when you're parenting, IMO. The people who don't supervise their children's cell phone usage scare me because that's far more common than people who allow their kid to "have" a gun. Do you know how much damage children do to each other and themselves with cell phone usage and bullying, ect?

Also, if you feel like going back and reading my posts, I stated that I have made the personal decision to not own firearms at this time, and gave my reasons why.

I have to say, I really don't make my parenting decisions or even really live my life according to fear these days. I've heard the same stuff being said about me allowing my children to play on our wooded property without my direct supervision. (How horrible of you, aren't you scared they'll be raped/kidnapped/eaten by animals/fall down a hole and die?) I think I will be more worried about my children when they get their drivers' licenses, than anything else.

I choose to educate my children about gun safety because it benefits them. I'm not afraid to ask questions of parents I know (or don't) whose houses my kids go to about whether they own firearms and how they're stored, and make decisions accordingly. I do not ask in the spirit of fear or judgement (I can even show them my CCW permit, which I stubbornly get so that it's not just lunatics that have it, even though I don't own a firearm--BUT it opens up discussions with gun owners, so there you go. :D)

But no, guns do not scare me. Careless people, people that see them as some sort of panacea to all danger, and people who fear them so much they lose their heads over it scare me though. I don't like extremes. I also don't like forbidden fruit. One of the benefits to hunting is that people (adults and children) see the impact of firearm usage--death. Purposeful death. What troubles me is when people start separating out the two.

Until the 2nd amendment is interpreted differently in the US, I choose to err on the side of teaching my children pragmatically about guns, and speaking calmly about them, while not sugarcoating things. To be honest, I really don't care if people respect that point of view or not, but it seems to work for us.

I read your posts, but I asked because you said that your children are sadly not learning to shoot at the moment (or something to that effect) and I just thought "Whyy would you allow your children to do that". It's really none of my business I guess, I was just curious (okay, also a bit shocked).

I guess it's just something I don't understand, or a culture I don't understand, I'm from Germany. I don't know anyone who owns any kind of weapon, it's just so foreign to me. What would you say are the advantages of teaching your children about gun safety?

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I read your posts, but I asked because you said that your children are sadly not learning to shoot at the moment (or something to that effect) and I just thought "Whyy would you allow your children to do that". It's really none of my business I guess, I was just curious (okay, also a bit shocked).

I guess it's just something I don't understand, or a culture I don't understand, I'm from Germany. I don't know anyone who owns any kind of weapon, it's just so foreign to me. What would you say are the advantages of teaching your children about gun safety?

Because a lot of people in the US do own guns. Therefore, it is a good idea to teach children gun safety. Even if it's only "walk away and tell an adult if you see one". I just think if you make it forbidden, it becomes more of an attraction. Neither my brother or I ever felt the need to show off or brag about guns. We never were enticed to pick one up because they just weren't "special".

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*snip*

I guess it's just something I don't understand, or a culture I don't understand, I'm from Germany. I don't know anyone who owns any kind of weapon, it's just so foreign to me. What would you say are the advantages of teaching your children about gun safety?

I'm not the person you asked, but I have to assume that my daughter is going to come in contact with firearms, so should know what to do.

We live in a rural area, hunting is common, family members have guns (I can say with certainty that a lot of them do), friends will have guns in their houses when she's big enough to play w/ other kids, etc.

There are some in the house (which we have needed where we live to deal w/ critters. Not what I would CHOOSE to do, but wounded, ill-acting opossum on the back deck, tussling with dog--shooting it was the most humane thing to do) , so if something were to happen that one was accidentally left out (I can NOT see this happening--Mr. Dawbs is meticulous and I don't get them out except in dire emergencies [see, possum], but, I dunno, Mr. Dawbs has a stroke mid visit to the range maybe? :lol: ), the basic gun safety could be important.

(FWIW, she's a wee tot, and the rules currently are 'never touch, tell an adult--and if you're not sure if it's a toy or real, assume it's real'. Those will be the rules for quite some time)

When my idiot friends said things like "look, do you want to see my dad's guns?" I quite honestly answered "No-I've seen guns"--I have every reason to think that somewhere down the line, my kid will be asked that too--and I don't want them to be something super cool you touch because they're forbidden, I want them to be "no--if I wanted to see guns, I'd see the ones at my house and my parents would tan my hide (figuratively) if I got busted doing that"

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I'm not the person you asked, but I have to assume that my daughter is going to come in contact with firearms, so should know what to do.

We live in a rural area, hunting is common, family members have guns (I can say with certainty that a lot of them do), friends will have guns in their houses when she's big enough to play w/ other kids, etc.

There are some in the house (which we have needed where we live to deal w/ critters. Not what I would CHOOSE to do, but wounded, ill-acting opossum on the back deck, tussling with dog--shooting it was the most humane thing to do) , so if something were to happen that one was accidentally left out (I can NOT see this happening--Mr. Dawbs is meticulous and I don't get them out except in dire emergencies [see, possum], but, I dunno, Mr. Dawbs has a stroke mid visit to the range maybe? :lol: ), the basic gun safety could be important.

(FWIW, she's a wee tot, and the rules currently are 'never touch, tell an adult--and if you're not sure if it's a toy or real, assume it's real'. Those will be the rules for quite some time)

When my idiot friends said things like "look, do you want to see my dad's guns?" I quite honestly answered "No-I've seen guns"--I have every reason to think that somewhere down the line, my kid will be asked that too--and I don't want them to be something super cool you touch because they're forbidden, I want them to be "no--if I wanted to see guns, I'd see the ones at my house and my parents would tan my hide (figuratively) if I got busted doing that"

Okay, I get that. The guns are there and you have to educate your kids about them or someone else will, kind of like with sex ed? It's still scary as hell to me, but thanks for the answer :D

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