S/O Toy Guns

Maebb

A friend of a friend posted this on Facebook with the caption "train 'em young," and it absolutely makes me sick. Maybe (hopefully), by "train 'em," he means "teach 'em gun safety"?

I know this is a controversial topic, and some people will probably tell me to MYOB and get a sense of humor. I get that kids (hopefully) know the difference between toy and real guns, and they should have a healthy respect for real guns. Am I right to be thinking "WTF" about this FB post, or do I need to get a sense of humor?

I blacked out the face because I wouldn't share the pic of someone else's child without their permission, but the boy has a big smile, as if he were holding an ice cream cone, and that is part of what is disturbing to me.

ETA: I have deleted the photo, but it was a 5 - 7 year old boy with no shirt on posed in the living room with what appears to be an assault rifle. Maybe it was a toy, but it had the appearance of a real gun. An adult's hand looked like it was on the left side of the gun, and the boy had both of his hands on the middle part of the gun. Hopefully this is an adequate description, but I reconsidered and thought it was better to not post the photo, even with the boy's face blacked out.

nanabanana06

:-&

Just.... no. I think this is so beyond dumb. Beyond dumb!

lildevil968

Honestly, I would WTF this pic as well. I think the kid is too young to know the difference between what is fake, and what is real. We have a 9mm in our house, and DD is just now allowed to touch it because she has to take it with her to firearm safety training.

I also wonder why the hell this guy has what looks to be a Military assault rifle?

SpaceGirlSpiff

I just find it pretty dumb and unfunny.

jorkz821

How old is that kid? He looks 5, max.

klondikebar

I am a gun owner. A gun is not a photo prop. I may have different views than other gun owners, but most of them have not shot a person in self defense with their children present. They have seen what it can do. It's not a fucking toy to pose with.

theseaword

Well, I guess I am a pearl clutcher, because this is very uncool. 

SpaceGirlSpiff

My pearls are the furthest from clutched as possible... I just didnt think it was cute or funny.  Kind of like when babies are posed with beer bottles.... not offended persay, just...not amused.

Meh

I have nothing against guns, at all (when treated responsibly of course)

Nechie122

GhostMonkey said:

DH loved his dad's guns too. Last I checked he hasn't gone on a shooting spree. He's not home yet though, so I will check with him for sure and make sure that's not what he's out doing.

Shooting sprees are not the issue. They're the outlier. The issue is the kid who thinks a gun is "cool" and then decides to show it off to a friend during a play date. And he accidentally shoots another child.

According to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, 1,300 young people under the age of 25 died from unintentional gun shots between 2005 and 2010. Those are by and large preventable tragedies.

I don't clutch my pearls about many things -- I drink in front of my child, I let her watch SpongeBob, she gets the occasional cookie for breakfast -- but responsible gun ownership? I don't think it's so crazy to feel strongly about something that could ACTUALLY mean life and death for an innocent child, unlike many things of the silly things Bump posters judge.

jorkz821

GhostMonkey said:

You can see there is an adult hand on the end of the gun. DS has touched DH's AR too. And he thinks that thing is the absolute shit.

Un-fucking -clench guise. The kid isn't walking around the house with it.

Can't see the hand on mobile. Still think it's inappropriate for a child that young to be around guns like that though.

fancynewbeesly

Nechie122 said:

DH loved his dad's guns too. Last I checked he hasn't gone on a shooting spree. He's not home yet though, so I will check with him for sure and make sure that's not what he's out doing.

Shooting sprees are not the issue. They're the outlier. The issue is the kid who thinks a gun is "cool" and then decides to show it off to a friend during a play date. And he accidentally shoots another child. According to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, 1,300 young people under the age of 25 died from unintentional gun shots between 2005 and 2010. Those are by and large preventable tragedies. I don't clutch my pearls about many things -- I drink in front of my child, I let her watch SpongeBob, she gets the occasional cookie for breakfast -- but responsible gun ownership? I don't think it's so crazy to feel strongly about something that could ACTUALLY mean life and death for an innocent child, unlike many things of the silly things Bump posters judge.

That happened in our town last April. A 4 year and 6 year old were playing with toy guns---and the 4 year old said let me go get my daddy's paint ball gun. He went inside, got the real gun, accidentally shot and killed the 6 year old. 

That photo is not cool/funny OR responsible. 

jorkz821

@crystaladult

Lol but wtf kind of a gif was that??!?

Nechie122

GhostMonkey said:

Nechie122 said:

GhostMonkey said:

DH loved his dad's guns too. Last I checked he hasn't gone on a shooting spree. He's not home yet though, so I will check with him for sure and make sure that's not what he's out doing.

Shooting sprees are not the issue. They're the outlier. The issue is the kid who thinks a gun is "cool" and then decides to show it off to a friend during a play date. And he accidentally shoots another child.

According to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, 1,300 young people under the age of 25 died from unintentional gun shots between 2005 and 2010. Those are by and large preventable tragedies.

I don't clutch my pearls about many things -- I drink in front of my child, I let her watch SpongeBob, she gets the occasional cookie for breakfast -- but responsible gun ownership? I don't think it's so crazy to feel strongly about something that could ACTUALLY mean life and death for an innocent child, unlike many things of the silly things Bump posters judge.

So would you rather we don't start teaching our son now that they are not toys and that they are not to be touched without an adult having actual control of the gun? He already thinks they are cool, not out of anything we have done to cause that.

It's not going to be our house where he comes across an unsecured gun. If one of his friends tried to show him one, he will hopefully know to go get a grown up because it's not ok for them to touch it.

But, irresponsible and stuff. Yeah, you guise nailed it.

If you teach responsible gun ownership, great. I'm not talking about you.

But with something as serious as gun safety, parents need to teach those lessons with their actions as well as their words. And I'm going to go out on a limb here and say a parent who thinks posing their kid with an assault rifle is cute or funny is probably not the picture of responsible gun ownership. That's the difference here.

littlestjerry

Not funny. I have never touched a gun. If I have anything to do with it, DS won't either before he reaches adulthood. Guns are for adults. I wouldn't let DS pose with any sort of weapon, gun or otherwise.

jbatch

I do not see how a kid touching a gun means the parents are irresponsible.. I did not see anything irresponsible in the picture. Someone was there with the child. The child was not running around the house with a gun.. My child will learn about guns and gun safety. She will learn to shoot when she is old enough..

Maebb

jorkz821 said:

How old is that kid? He looks 5, max.

@jorkz821, DH said he thinks the kid is between 5 and 7. Either way, I don't think it's responsible to pose him in a picture with a gun and put it on Facebook. Even if the parents have their hands on the gun, there is something very offensive about it to me. Maybe it's the "LOL" nature of the caption and the way people are liking it and responding to it. I don't think guns are a joke or a prop for child photos.

I'm not making the claim that anyone who has ever let their children touch a gun is irresponsible, but I would personally worry with my child that he might think "Guns are cool, and mommy and daddy let me touch it that one time, so maybe if I find one at my friend's house, it's okay to play with it this once if I'm careful." I have been around guns before, but I just don't see them as a prop or plaything for anyone, especially a child.

littlestjerry

I think we've reached a very bizarre place in this country when "I don't think there is anything funny about a small child posing gleefully with an assault weapon" makes you a sanctimommy.

Dubwife79

I really think a lot of this is regional. No one I know owns a gun. Even the ones who are supporters of our right to bear arms. The idea of keeping a gun in a house is so totally foreign to me that I can't even really form an opinion on it. I get that people hunt, or want them for protection and that as long as they are following the current laws and taking proper safety precautions there is really nothing for me to judge. However, that picture along with the "teach em young" makes me shudder.

jorkz821

In what world does "there is no reason for a child to touch a gun" = sanctimommy?

Maebb

@MabelShesTheBomb, I get it. If someone can tell me how to remove the photo from the post via mobile, I will do it. I won't have access to a computer until tomorrow morning.

HappyMess15

I'm joining the tight butthole pearl clutchers. That is so fucking stupid. Guns aren't props and they should never be in close unguarded proximity to children-EVER. And by unguarded I mean within seeing and touching reach. I have a pistol that is kept locked up and out of reach. I'm a laid back "chill" parent. A parent that does this is an irresponsible turd.

wiggyslilsis

@ghost monkey I think you need to step back from the situation. You are clearly too emotionally invested in the gun control debate to talk about this sensibly. You are reading into what people are saying and taking offense to it.

I was raised around guns and we have two secured guns in our home. I am surrounded by people who own guns in my life. But it is still uncool to let your child hold/touch a gun and be all excited about it and then post it on Facebook. In our home you were not to touch a gun without adult supervision and even then not until the firearm safety class. I want my child tohave a healthy fear of guns and that includes not touching them.

Also, no one said you were a bad mom or that kids should never see guns. You seriously need to stop putting words in peoples mouths. People think a kid posing with/touching an assault rifle sends the wrong impression to the kid and that posting a picture of a young child touching a gun on Facebook is not cool.

ASmallWonder

IMO the issue isn't so much about him seeing/touching the gun, although I personally don't agree with it.  The issue, to me, is that by taking a picture of him doing it, it has the high potential to tell the kid on some level that it's something cool.  When do we take pictures?  When good or interesting or funny/lighthearted things happen.  To have proof of a special memory.  That is not the message you send to a child if you're trying to teach them about guns in order to be safe.  If that's the goal, it's a serious situation with serious tones - not something to be potentially glamorized by yelling "Say cheese and smile for mommy with the big gun!"

Unknown

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[Deleted User]

Team toddlers shouldn't be posing with guns. Not funny or cool.

wiggyslilsis

Well it certainly doesn't seem like you are laughing. I am getting a very defensive vibe. If one person said something about your parenting then call them out on it. Don't lump everybody together. I think a lot of the women on here are open minded just not when it comes to life and death. Guns can be dangerous especially in the hands of children. Like OM said...just chill.

wiggyslilsis

Well it certainly doesn't seem like you are laughing. I am getting a very defensive vibe. If one person said something about your parenting then call them out on it. Don't lump everybody together. I think a lot of the women on here are open minded just not when it comes to life and death. Guns can be dangerous especially in the hands of children. Like OM said...just chill.

thatoneredhead

I detest guns and I grew up with a gunsmith. I know plenty, which is why I hate them.

Here's how I look at it. It wouldnt take many stupid choices to get my kid ran over by a car so until he can absolutely prove that nothing means more to him than being safe around cars, I will absolutely not let him anywhere near a street. 

My kid will not be comfortable with guns. In fact, I will keep him scared to death of them as long as I can. When he is mature enough to know when and where they are appropriate, he will loose his fear.

ETA So yeah, I would judge that pic pretty hardcore.

[Deleted User]

GhostMonkey said:

And yes, I was called irresponsible because my child has set his fingers on a gun. Those were her exact words- I'm not putting anything in her mouth.

I'll double down on that.  Yes, it's irresponsible of you to let your two year old hold a gun.  Yes, it's irresponsible that your son was exposed enough to guns to know to build one out of legos at a year old.

I don't know how you can let a toddler handle a lethal weapon and call yourself a "responsible gun owner."  That shit ain't responsible, period.

ETA: Said by someone whose mom's toe was broken by my dad's .44 falling on it from under the mattress.