Your children and loaded weapons

[biorunner]

I have a 15 year old son who is totally fascinated with my guns. They learn a lot about them with video games, but unfortunately I think the games and movies desensitize the dangers and nothing on safe handling. I don't let him touch or even see them until we are at the range. My guns and ammo are locked in separate safes at home and I am the only one with access to them. I also have a two year old daughter, we will cross that bridge in about 10 years.

[Distro]

On my 11th birthday my birthday card said "Love Mom & Dad.............P.S ## ## ##"

It took me a few seconds to figure out what the numbers meant, then realized it was the combination to the safe. I was basically free to access them whenever I wanted. From 11 to 18 I never once ended up opening the safe without my dad around. Just a choice I made, and luckily was never forced too either. Even in the few years that passed after turning 18 I don't feel the need to access them much besides my HD gun.

There really isn't a right or wrong answer, my parents felt it was fine for me to have access at that age and they turned out to be right. You are ultimately the one who has to feel out the situation.

[locosway]

In response to the thread regarding "girl shoots intruder" I am wondering how many members here allow firearm access to their kids while alone. I'm assuming the Glock was easily available and the girls knew exactly where it was.

It happened to save this girls life but I'm curious as to how parents handle firearms with children. My thoughts are that I will not allow my kids to have access to weapons by themselves when they are 18 and under. In other states it might be different, and some kids are more mature than others, but generally they are not intelligent enough to make smart decisions, especially with a gun.

Do you feel me or am I being too protective?

If you're going to leave a child home alone, why would you not want them to have the ability to defend themselves?

I'm not saying they need the combination to the gun safe that has 25 guns in it, but certainly a firearm that they're familiar with should be accessible in an emergency.

Some people will disagree, and that's fine. Don't leave your kids home alone then.

[hakenlag]

My son shoots better than me. I trust him with firearms more than I trust people at the range.

[AK47American]

Its all about education. A child must know never to handle a firearm without supervision. Even if it is a gun the child manipulates regularly at ranges. The idea behind this isn't just to be able to leave your guns around the house. It is still important to keep your guns safely away from your children, but should they encounter a dormant firearm at home or perhaps at their friends house, they will understand the importance of firearm safety.

At age 10 my friends and I each owned our own guns. (I grew up in Texas as some may have guess already). Boys will be boys, but any time one of my friends was handling their gun irresponsibly, I would tell them in a similarly stern voice as my father "watch where the hell your pointing that gun boy." Even though we all knew the guns were unloaded, we all understood the rules and no one said "this guy's a square" or anything like that.

If kids know exactly how to handle guns, they will take pride in safe handling. All the rules are literally spelled out on a brochure when you pull a mossberg out of the box these days.

[stix213]

My friend's 10 year old son has his own 410 and has been shooting Ak's, Ar's, and hitting clays with a 12ga he can't even shoulder since he was 7 - most of them mine. He doesn't have unsupervised access to even his own though. We take him shooting so often I don't think the home access issue has ever been anything he has even cared about.

He is crazy about gun safety though. He wont even hand you back your own empty gun until he has put the safety on.

[medicdude]

My Glock is always kept loaded with one in the chamber in my EDC holster. It's either on me or on the shelf 5' up in my closet. My 5 month old daughter can't reach it, nor can my 5 year old nephew. But my wife can if she needs it. She has taken two handgun classes with me and is quite proficient. When my daughter gets older we will reevaluate but it will likely remain loaded for my wife to use if needed (I work 24-48 hour shifts). I think education is important here.

[morfeeis]

Growing up (I'm the oldest of six) we all had access to firearms. We were also instructed in their safe use from a very young age and we had no issues. Usually when I read or hear about a kid finding a gun and doing something stupid it's a kid who's parents kept firearms around, but also never introduced their children to shooting.

Safes, locks, hiding places, all useless in my mind. The most important safety measure is education.

Outside of that, your castle, your rules on what's allowed. Being the oldest of six I babysat for my parents on a lot of date nights basically from the time I was 13 on. I had access to firearms if they were needed (thankfully never were), I knew basic first aid, and how to call 911. There's no right answer other than use your best judgement on what's right for your family.

QFT

We knew where the firearms were kept and we knew how to use them. No one ever shot themselves. Kids shooting themselves is more a failure on the part of the parents and not the child. In my honest childless opinion, if you don't trust your kids enough then you didn't do something right when you raised them. But hey i have no kids of my own just 7 younger brothers and sisters that i helped raise.