This is great advice. Thanks for sharing with us. Its advice

Joeanne

When reading the advice I found it difficult to understand why such controversy was given to a topic so serious as gun control and the safety of children. In the US, there are shootings of children, teens, adults every day that come from people who are uneducated, angry, and don't think about death by guns. It scares me thinking about how much violence is accepted in this world, due to numbing by repeated reports, videos and tv new, and how some condone the use of guns as a 'right' to own. I too have strong feelings, and have not let my son play with guns, nor own gun toys as I don't believe any type of gun is a toy. At 12, he now makes them out of his legos, in the past he's used sticks to pretend the use of guns in play. I just say the same thing, "guns kill" and are not a toy. The fact that your parents room was 'booby trapped' and you were told  not to go inside the room, is a classic example of how accidents can happen in an instant and the result is a life time of horror.

Great advice! We live in the country and guns are a very real part of our life. My partner has guns locked in our shed, however the rule is only he knows where the gun safe keys are and only he can get to them. My father has guns on his property too and rules are the same there.

I believe that guns and children are an aweful combination too, and before i moved to the country i was about as anti-gun as you could get. I have realised that they are a necessity when you live in the country thou. And while i myself have still never even held one, i have accepted that they will be on my property.

My son will most certainly be taught the dangers of guns and he will be taught gun safety as soon as he is old enough. Til then, he wont know that we own them.

At the end of the day, i would prefer my son to know what they are and know about gun safety, then for there to be an accident because he was curious and no one ever told him what they were.

Thanks, Cass xx

I appreciate all the views presented here in the comments.  To own a gun or not own a gun was not why the post was put up.  It was put up in an effort to provide a resource to parents should they actually own a gun.  It was never intended to be one sided for owning and not owning.  Simply posted as a resource that some may not have been aware of. 

It's not realistic to believe that our children will never come in contact with a gun and I would rather have a prepared child over a dead child.  Teaching them to know how to react when they are presented with a problem such as this or strangers etc, is a parenting responsibility.

I also think that some comments were made with their childs age in mind which is understandable but not really a fair "judgement" of the over all picture here.  Some of us have much older children and common sense would dictate that we can not be there every second of their day and at times they are presented with some serious choices.  Peer pressure is a lot on children and warrants our attention wether is be about guns, drugs, strangers and even the internet.

No matter how many times we think we have covered something there is still that chance, they will not listen and make the wrong choice.  Even when we do our best to prevent it, for example, not having a gun in the home or not allowing toy guns is still not a guaruntee our children will never come in contact with one.

Please do not make this post out to be about pro gun ownership or anything like that.  It is just simply a post with a resource to educate our precious children and ourselves.  Even at the FBI site, this site is geared, I believe, towards 5th Graders and up.  So that is the reality of gun situations.

To rely on a countries strict gun laws would be irresponsible as not everyone, wether you are from the US or Australia, follows the law.  I would never fully rely on a countries laws to protect my children.  I can only hope that the strict laws would help in regulating the amount of guns people own and pray that my child will never have to encounter one or be in an accident with one.  So as a parent, it's up to me to stress that seriousness to my child of what to do if one of their friends pulls out a gun.  It's up to me to teach then, not my countries laws.

In Amercia we have too many "accidents" that could have been prevented had the weapon been properly stored and locked. 

This is not saying one country is better than another but it does warrant a look and further validates my point that as a parent, it is ultimately my responsibilty to teach my child how to handle bad situations wether it be gun, drug, or internet (to name a few dangers) related, I can not put my trust in a law to protect them.

So, as a parent, when I feel the time becomes important to educate my young boys about guns, I will.  But I also have a 16 year old daughter and she has friends.  Maybe at her friends house there is a gun or maybe she is at the movies and they step outside and a friend pulls out a gun.  Who knows what situation will arise.  But I do know that I have to do my part and be responsible and hope that my child will make the right decision.

Minti is a global community and we all need to keep that in mind because not every country has the same laws regarding gun control.

Great advice

Thanx for sharing

I don't think there should be a question that gun safety is a topic that concerns parents. Whether anyone disapprove of gun ownership or not, people do own them... that is people with kids own them!  If you are a parent who so highly disapproves of guns that you don't even discuss guns in your household, what happens if your child happens to be invited to a party who has guns in their homes? What happens if you didn't even know they had guns in their home? 

Here in the U.S., I've heard of such a news where a kid goes over to a friend's house and in that home, guns are accesible to kids. And the kids play with the guns and a tragedy happens. Now, I'm sure there is no parent out there who would let your kids hang out in another's home if you knew there are gun are accessible, but what if you didn't know? So trully, everyone should know about gun safety whether you believe in the use of guns or not.

My husband owns rifles and hand guns. I didn't know anything about guns before I met him, and quite frankly, I was freaked out when I found out. But after he educated me about it, I am no longer afraid of it. Each gun has it's own lock that prevents each gun from being fried. And the hand guns are in a gun safe that has its own lock. And the then the guns are hidden away in an even bigger safe with lock. I take guns very seriously and don't even want one pointed at anybody when it's being cleaned (apart) and empty.  To also share with you our views (my husband and me) on guns, we have not allowed our son to play with guns. It was quite a shock to us when he came home from school pretending to shoot us. That prompted us to say that shooting people is bad. We chose to even delay the use of the word "gun" when using a water gun. We call it "water squirt" instead!

My father in law was in the military and takes guns seriously and he instilled the same knowledge and respect about guns to my husband. This means that when our son is old enough to fully understand the gravity of this weapon, he will be educated on it (not the mechanism of the gun, but the truth that it is a weapon that can take life).

My husband and I use to go target shooting at a target shooting facility, but it's been a while. But it doesn't mean I am for the idea that every joe-shmoe should have one.  Guns are inanimate objects. They don't shoot by themselves. People shoot guns. We cannot erase th existence of guns. Countries go to war with each other using guns.

Whether or not you approve of guns is irrelevant really... Guns exist in our society, for whatever reason that people choose to have them.  This article is about safety, and in principle as a parent, or any caring citizen, safety to our children should be paramount.  This is a parenting website and this is a safety article with advice to keep children safe... Seems to me that this is the appropriate place for this advice article.

I am dead against guns. I also have had my hubbys grandfather taken by a psyco who used a gun. I refuse to by even a toy gun for my son.

i dont think this should be here.

I can imagine this article will entice strong views, but actually I find it very sensible. Your story goes to confirm the reality of gun ownership and the dangers it can pose when the right precautions are ignored. It is too easy for adults who are brought up with guns around to forget that, children do get curious. Dont touch, is not a realistic way to protect against tradgedy, so the smart thing is not to have a gun around children in the first place, but if one feels it necessary, then be sensible and lock it up securely and firmly.

If for some reason, though I cant think of one, a child will be taught to shoot, then gun safety should be rammed home, and seen to be understood as second nature, before a child ever gets to touch one.

Thankyou for sharing a controvesial topic. Sadly there are guns out there, and kids do get their little hands on them,sad but true, no point in burying our heads in the sand.

Luv Winnie.xxxx

Hi there,

Whilst this is quite a good article I really don't think that it is appropriate for a parenting site . .  I personally have very strict views on guns and I will not even allow toy guns in my home and YES that also includes water guns.

I strongly believe that the US government should hang their heads in shame at their lax gun control! What a bad example they are setting for their future generations. This is one of those times when I AM proud to be an Australian as we have some of the toughest gun laws around, through our laws we are teaching our children the respect that ALL human life deserves. Guns are a highly influential item and they should be very very strictly monitored and our children should NOT be allowed to use these as toys . .

Cheers Kellz

I'm intrigued now as to what kind of feedback you got from your original post? 

I am quite anti-guns and won't have toy guns in my house, yet my husband is a licenced shooter and member of the sporting shooters association.  It has caused a degree of conflict, but he is very sensible and has very strict rules about guns, so we are content to differ on this point.  Here in Australia we have very strict rules on gun ownership and gun licencing and their owners must be licenced and follow basic safety protocols - eg fire-arms are kept in a locked, secured safe for which only the licenced owner has keys (I don't have access to them), the ammunition and parts of the gun are stored separately, also locked (so if you break into one safe you don't get both).  My husband has never shown the children his guns, even when he goes shooting he removes them while I distract the kids  as he thinks they are too young to understand and be safe around them. 

We also have the same rule as on the film that even if my child did find one he is not to touch it but to come and find an adult (same rule for spiders and snakes where we are) - this is necessary as we live in the country.  Also guns, even toy ones (and we do come across them if not in our house) are never to be pointed at people - even in fun!

Ideally perhaps we should not have guns and children together - but as in this modern age many people do, it is essential that parents be responsible with them and know how to handle them and also be teaching our children that they are not toys to be played with.  Sadly accidents happen far too often (though Australia has very few thanks to our tight regulations) and our children are too precious to be lax about it.