actual parenting question - gun safety for playdates?

carig63

There's an article in Parents magazine about kids and gun safety in the home: both their own and when visiting. So, regardless of politics, what would be a reasonable response if a parent of your kid's friend said "We are a gun-owning family, but they are safely stored with a lock and unloaded. Does that bother you?"

I'm mostly asking for curiosity's sake now, but also because I'm sure this will come up at some point in the future. 

mben1119

See, that would bother me and my kids wouldn't go to their house anymore. Too many accidents happen, especially the recent one with the sheriff showing someone how safely locked up his guns were. I just don't do guns.

RondackHiker

I might ask how they were locked and if the kids had access to the key or code. But I'd be fine with locked up and unloaded guns.

lildevil968

We are gun owners, so this would not bother me. We have ours in a lock box, unloaded, and the firing pin removed, along with a trigger lock.

We also plan on taking DD to a gun safety class in the near future.

theseaword

I wouldn't be comfortable unless this was a very close friend and I knew how they stored their guns. I don't know anyone who owns a gun though, so this is hypothetical for me.
When DS is older, I will ask, and if they have guns I will not allow him

Ms5586

LoisLayn23:

Loolaide:<

LaurelBee

LoisLayn23:

I wouldn't announce that I have guns.

<img src="https://community.thebump.com/cs/emot

msdrdg

LoisLayn23:

Loolaide:<

LaurelBee

LoisLayn23:

Loolaide:<

J+MS

Ours are locked and out of reach, I would be ok with a parent asking about that. 

Sonadora

If I were a gun owner, I sincerely doubt I would bring it up de facto before a playdate. I'm thinking I don't really know the other parents all that well and may not want them or anyone else to even know I had guns in the house.

I think it woul

bearfootz

If I'm comfortable enough with the family that I'm willing to leave my child with them then I figure I'll be comfortable enough confirming that if they do own guns that they are kept unloaded and locked up.   As far as seeing them - that

RondackHiker

fredalina:

I'm kind of torn. I don't own guns so of course the question wouldn't bother me, and probably wouldn't if I did own guns

LoveActually4

In Canada so it's a bit different but...

With my stepkids, I meet all the parents. I discuss pick up, drop off, activities being done, nothing too over the top. If I get a bad vibe from the parents or see anything unsafe i will shut the play

msdrdg

Inkogneetoh:

msd-rdg:<

klondikebar

I will answer about how our gun is locked up and stored. I will not show anyone where our safe is. If you don't like it, you can leave. NBD

I posed this question before. Why do you trust a person telling you they don't have guns and not&nbsp

robinsokj

I'm always with ll  on this topic so i'll just defer to her

ASmallWonder

So you guys with guns who wouldn't show where they're stored are saying it's a safety risk for you (i.e. you don't trust people not to use the info against you).  But you want them to trust you and your word that their kid is safe.  It's not tha

LuckyDad

carig63:

There's an article in Parents magazine about kids and gun safety in the home: both their own and when visiting. So, r

smile50208

Good question.  I hadn't thought about this! I think it would depend on how well I know the family. But I would be more hesitant to send them for a playdate.

I would think if they are so upfront - they have taken the proper precautions to ke

RondackHiker

KlondikeBar:

I will answer about how our gun is locked up and stored. I will not show anyone where our safe is. If you don't like i

klondikebar

LoisLayn23:

elmoali

RondackHiker

LoisLayn23:

elmoali:</s

klondikebar

RondackHiker:

Klond

mmdd20

To me, this all goes back to trusting the parents. Seeing how/where the guns may be locked up doesn't ensure that they will remain that way through the duration of the playdate or that the parent was honest about the number of guns in the home to

missyishere

I'm fairly positive about 90% of our friends' homes have guns, but hey, we do live in corn country.  Hunting is pretty common around here.  DH owns guns; locked and unloaded, safely stored away from others.  I would guess he would be willin

mom2pottamus

I would wonder why the parent felt that had to disclose they owned guns, but I would still let my child have a play date.

It honestly has never crossed my mind to ask another parent if they have guns in the house let alone how they store them.&nb

pghmortdoll

I have a good friend who has a fiance that keeps a gun in the night stand drawer.  I am terrified of getting a call someday that their daughter got a hold of it.  I love them dearly, but I do not agree with the way they store their guns.

RondackHiker

pghmortdoll:

I have a good friend who has a fiance that keeps a gun in the night stand drawer.nbsp; I am terrified of getting anbsp

theseaword

Just because other dangers also exist in the world doesn't mean guns are not dangerous. We're not talking about grapes. We're talking about guns. This argument frustrates me because it doesn't have to be all or nothing: "well, if you're not going to ask a

mben1119

fredalina:

It's the "if they own a gun, even if they say they store it locked and unloaded with a trigger lock, I still d

mben1119

LoisLayn23:

mabenner1:

LaurelBee

Inkogneetoh:

Twilig

lawright

I have every intention of asking every friend's parent whether they own guns and if so, weather they're locked in a proper gun safe and stored unloaded.  If they don't have a gun safe, I'm happy to host the kids at my house or have playdates at a loc

mben1119

fredalina:

mabenner1:<

mben1119

LoisLayn23:

mabenne

mben1119

LoisLayn23:

mabenner1:

mben1119

LoisLayn23:

mabenne

lawright

Since I'm not a gun owner... I was an expert at picking flimsy locks as a kid.  I was even able to get into a hotel room from the balcony using a leaf stem once (WTF, hotel???)  IF I ask to see the locked box that a gun is stored in, then I just

mben1119

LoisLayn23:

mabenner1:

mben1119

LoisLayn23:

 

Oh, FFS.

Clearly we're done here.

I'm just trying to underst