The Right To Bear Arms....Do You or Dont You?
There are somethings we as parents do in life that we try and teach our kids not to do. I guess you can call it the "Do as I say-Not as I do" type of parenting. I don't know. Call it what you will. One of the hardest decisions I had to make several years ago as a husband, father and a man was the decision to buy a gun and have a gun in our home. I don't like guns, never have, probably never will. But after thinking long and hard about it, I made the choice to buy a shotgun.
Guns. I am scared of guns. I am scared of guns around kids. MY kids. We don't let our kids play with ANY kind of guns. No water guns, no plastic guns, nothing like that at all. And we have even taken away the guns that come with the legos. We have even told the kids that anything of the sort is called a blaster. Being that I am scared of guns, that made it even more of a hard choice to buy a gun and have it in our home. But the end decision to buy one came from the need of feeling safe and secure. The feeling that my wife and kids are safe at home alone. I work late. I get home late. Its dark, and for the longest time we didn't even have street lights in our subdivision. Sometimes an house alarm just isn't enough and our dog Laila, we she...she couldn't pop a bubble if she sat on it.
So I bought the shotgun. Learned how to use it, clean it, care for it and I put it up high away in a closet in a blanket where the kids couldn't see it. Hell it was so high that T couldn't even see it or reach it. That was a problem. How on earth can T protect herself and the kids if I am not there if she cant see or reach he shotgun? Other problem, this was a big shotgun. How is she going to carry this thing in moments notice if she has the kids to also get to a safe place in the house? Would she be able to pump it and pull and pump it and pull?
All of these things flip flopped in my head and led me to the decision that it was time to get rid of the shotgun and get a smaller handgun. A smaller hand gun would be easier to hide from the kids and easier for T to use if the need came up. But damn a smaller gun, shit this is all you see on the news, kids getting a hold of these guns and accidents happening and I don't need any of that. I wasn't really sure of what to do at this point. So we got a safe. A touch pad key entry safe that the gun would stay in and it would stay up on the shelf. I felt better about this. The gun is in a safe that the kids cant get into. The kids don't even know what the safe is or whats in it. The kids still don't know we have the gun and I plan on keeping it that way.
7 comments:
Due to my husband's profession, we have guns in our home. (Not to mention he loves guns). We have an 8wk old son. My husband told him yesterday that he bought him his first gun (he special ordered one for work, and it will be passed to him in the future). Our son will be educated on guns, we will allow him to shoot when we are comfortable he is properly educated, and he will learn the power of a gun so as to respect what it can do.
We plan on having all guns in a safe soon, ammo will be separate, and many other precautions will be taken. Our goal is that with our son being educated, that he will respect firearms and not be curious. Curiosity of the unknown is when children typically play with a weapon. If it is put in front of them and they are allowed to touch and use it with appropriate supervision, then it won't be so interesting since it won't be considered "off-limits."
However, I do not push this on anyone. It is each individual's choice to have one or not. I do feel that if you have one, you should at least practice with it and be comfortable with your specific gun, and not just once. If your children are not educated on it, then it is best that you make sure that they are NEVER able to get their hands on it. I fear this situation is when some children get curious however, stumble upon it, and accidents happen. I feel a safe up out of their reach is the best option if you are positive they won't ever figure out the code/find the key/etc.
People with guns injure/kill people. Usually out of stupidity, being caught in the moment, rage, mental illness, or accident due to lack of knowledge. That's why I don't have anything against guns, especially if people dealing with them are properly educated. I personally love target practice, went on my 21st birthday for my concealed permit, and I have carried daily before. I now have one at my disposal to carry when I like, and I have it somewhere that suits me best for when I might need it. It's a personal preference, but no body should infringe on anyone else's decision/right to carry.
Good for you for making sure you have the means to protect your family. If you are comfortable with your children and the gun arrangement, that's great for your family. As in anything else in life, you do what works for your specific situation.
Good blog post Daddy. What I like is that you thought this out. I am pro-gun but that doesn't mean I think everyone should have a gun. You obviously weighed the risks and benefits of gun ownership.
While I totally respect your opinion and your choice to do what you feel is best for you family, our situation is quite different. We do have guns in our home and my husband & I both know how to shoot all different types of guns as well as how to throw knives. I have a pistol permit myself also. We have taught our children gun safety and they are very aware of the dangers, risks and that guns are NEVER toys. While we don't have guns in their direct access, we do not have them in safes either because if someone broke in and we had to get them quickly you wouldn't have time to get it out of a safe....that's just the reality of it. Our kids are allowed to shoot guns with us down on the farm but they are properly taught safety, usage and handling, wear proper equipment (ear & eye protection, etc) and there is no pushing them to shoot if they aren't interested. While I know some people are irresponsible and uneducated about guns making people feel so strongly about anti-gun laws, I personally like the right to bear arms not only for my own protection and the protection of my family but also because we enjoy skeet shooting, target practices and shooting guns for sport. Of course, in the end whatever works best for your family is what you should do regardless of all our comments & opinions. That's the beauty of life...we can all do what works for ourselves and still be friends in the end! :)
I hate guns too. Absolutely hate them. I had been successful at putting my husband off on getting one for the house until they broke into our car while it was in the yard and starting kicking in back doors during broad daylight. At that point I didn't have a choice being a SAHM. I have taken classes and we even took our son with us when we went to get it. The idea is that he wouldn't be suspicious of it and would know what it was and not to touch it if he ever saw it out. We currently have ours in a safe but I am going to look into the one that you have. This is a great post. Makes me feel better about having one in the house with my kids. I look at it like this its either them or my kids and with my husband gone at least 2 nights a week, I feel safer with it here, but I still don't like it.
My awesome buddy Christopher who is a big time gun guy wrote a blog in response to my post today. Here it is
http://twistedchristian.ca/dadblog/guns-and-kids/
Check it out
Guns freak me out. We will never ever have them in the house. End of story.
My personal opinion is that if you hate guns and are afraid of them then you shouldn't have one.
If it is a safety issue there are all kinds of alternatives. You can have an alarm that is armed 24/7 with only the inside motion detectors disengaged while the family is awake.
You can get a guard dog (or in my case a dog that SEEMS to be super protective and scary but a big softie once he gets to you). T can carry mace around, get a stun gun etc.
Guns don't kill people. People WITH guns kill people. This isn't to say that every person who has a gun is going to kill them (all commenters above me were great in explaining their (and their children's) gun education and safety.
I honestly feel if you are afraid of guns you should not own one. A gun will not keep you safe if you are scared of them because I guarantee you the person who is breaking in and has a gun is NOT afraid of it or its power and how to use it.
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