Gun Safety
I have already told my husband that we both better get two jobs because I am already planning on not really letting the kids out all the time, I would rather them and all of their friends be at our house.
Call me over protective but I doubt I would let me children at other people’s homes without me unless I knew the family very well. One of the things I worry about is guns in the home, especially with little boys who are curious and adventurous all at once.
A new study I just read about guns in the home stated “Almost one-fourth of 3,754 parents with young children — surveyed at 96 pediatric practices in 45 states, Puerto Rico and Canada — keep a gun at home. Yet in 70 percent of those homes with guns, parents said they hadn’t taken adequate precautions to safely store the weapons, researchers report.”
We do not have guns in our home, but we do have family members that do and I know they are stored away in a very safe place where kids could not get them.
I wonder for the future though, should I always ask if there are guns in the home of my kid’s friends? Would I trust their answers anyway?
I want to know what you do as parents, do you ask about guns and where they are stored? Do you have guns in your home and how do you make sure they are safely away from all little hands?
guns, parents owning guns, children and guns, parenting, moms, dads, gun safety, home safety
June 6th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
My kid is only 19 months, so we aren’t at that “playing at friend’s houses” stage, however, I’m with you. I really don’t want my kid spending too much time at someone else’s house (don’t get me started on sleepovers, because that will NOT be happening for a long, long time. Maybe not until they can DRIVE themselves over to the house).
I did grow up in a house full of guns, but my dad taught us a healthy respect for the danger of them. You can’t always count on all parents doing that.
June 6th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
We don’t have guns. I grew up with an unloaded .22 under my bed. That’s where my dad stored it. I never touched it. Scared me alittle. My sister is now a cop and when she comes to visit she has a gun with her. I don’t like it in our house with my son there. She’s extremely careful, but still, all the horror stories. My son has been told not to touch guns, but wat about his friends.
So I don’t have an answer, just more worries.
June 6th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
We don’t have guns in our house, but we do know people who do. I ask many questions when my kids are going to someone’s house, that being ione of them. I do have a relative who keeps a gun, in a safe place, but it still concerns me.
I guess we have to be aware as parents, and use our gut instincts as well as our common sense.