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Parenting
Do you have a gun in your house?
I know guns don't people and people kill people, blah, blah, blah. Having them here in the house makes me such a nervous wreck. Having read so many stories where kids get hold of them and they accidently go off.... this happened to one of DH's employees almost two years ago. her son was accidently killed by a neighbor's kid.
DH has two shotguns here that belonged to his father. They are old, and apparantly worth something. The'll fit in the gun cabinet at his mom's house, it'll just be tight, with the other guns in there. He eventually wants to bring the gun cabinet here, but I told him when we move to a bigger place. There's just really no good place to put it here. And even with it under lock and key, I'm still nervous. They are not loaded and are in zipped/locked gun bags under the bed in what is currently a work in progress for Blaire's big girl room. He reminded my ***.of.a.MIL today that he'd be bringing them back over to her house and she had a royal fit.
She lives alone, and they'll be in the gun case. Get over it. I have one child and another one on the way over here. I trump you!
We also have a handgun that DH bought 4 years ago. It's not even here. I took it to my mom's a year ago when I was cleaning out closets. She put it in a closet safe. It's in a black gun case, which is locked. The gun itself has a lock on it, plus it's not loaded. DH wants to bring this one back over for my safety when he's not home at night. We live in a nice neighborhood, in a town where break-ins are not a high crime. I don't even know how to use it, and i really don't want to know.
Sorry so long. I'm just way overly-cautious. Do you think I'm being overly paranoid?
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Re: Do you have a gun in your house?
I hate guns. I don't and won't have them in my house.
Yes we do but its something we all grew up with. We have a cabinet with a lock...the guns have locks on them and we have a locked ammo box thats kept in a separate place. As kids it was drilled into our heads we never ever touch the guns and we never did.... same thing with my older kids.
I think you are overly paranoid but understandably so if you never grew up with guns.
While I don't think you can ever be "overly-cautious" when it comes to guns, I do think you are being a bit overly paranoid.
We have four guns in our house --- the guns all have the chamber locks on them (have to use a key to get them off), the ammunition is in a separate location, and the guns are locked in a safe.
I'm quite sure with the right precautions, all will be fine.
As I said, someone would have to unlock the safe (key and combo --- and the key is hidden), unlock the chamber locks (keys for those are in a different spot), find the ammunition, load the gun and shoot. Highly HIGHLY unlikely.
I am not paranoid (about anything much) but I am choosy, judgmental (and proud of it) and risk averse.
Yes it takes a person to pull the trigger, but if the gun wasn't there you'd have to use less efficient ways to kill which also happen to be less likely to accidentally kill several people. Almost none of the mass killings in the modern era would have happened WITHOUT guns. Not to mention the suicides that would have been prevented if people had to resort to messier, more painful for longer methods.
1. I would never have a gun in my house.
2. I would never respect a person who thought it was ok to have a gun in their urban metropolitan house. If you live in the back of beyond I can make allowances for weapons needed to kill stock and vermin.
3. I would never let my kid play at the house of people who had guns in the house.
To me it is not just the guns themselves, it is an indication that those people's values are so incompatible with mine that I want nothing to do with them. Live and let live, but not in my space.
I would certainly never marry someone who owned a gun.?
Negative.
I grew up thinking only gangsters, cops and rednecks kept guns in their houses. I know there are exceptions, but I don't think I was that far off.
Krisbri - I didn't grow up with guns, so this is all def. new to me.
J&J - same situation with ours. The double locks and all. Keys kept in two separate locations, and ammunition is in another spot. I don't even think DH has ammunition for the two shotguns. If he does, it's not here.
I am pretty anti-gun, so we will never have a firearm in our house.
That said, if your DH wants you to have the handgun in your house I would strongly suggest that you take a gun safety/use class. That way you will be more comfortable with using it and how to properly store it safely.
MMML - wow! So people are valued by having a gun in their home?
I, too, would want to know if guns were at my child's friends homes. But, I would NEVER think less of them for having it. I know people who hunt, and therefore need a gun somewhere for that. I have no problem with people with children who have guns - it's just my desire not to have them. And like J&J said, I'm probably overly paranoid, but like Krisbri said I didn't grow up with them.
My DH obviously did and I have no opinion about that.
Alex (11/14/06) and Nate (5/25/10)
"Want what you have, do what you can, be who you are." - Rev. Forrest Church
You are not far off at ALL. There is simply no good reason for an urban family home to have a gun. The only real reason is to shoot intruders but that makes you a vigilante redneck who can't see you're upping the ante. I abhor sporting shooters but at least where I live they are only allowed to do it in clubs where the club keeps the guns locked up when not in use.
BTW where I grew up the regular traffic cops did not have guns. They had batons. Special forces had guns though until very recently they actually had to leave them at the policehouse when they went home after the job.?
Kris I know that is true about them living in the city. Doesn't make them nice people.
I strongly feel that if you enjoy killing living things for sport you are not the kind of person I want to have anything to do with. And I'm not that interested in your kids either who will undoubtedly be brought up to think that your views are acceptable if not laudable.
Doesn't matter where you live. If you hunt animals for fun you can't be a nice person. Doing a job that involves killing things (culling, killing vermin on a farm) is different. It doesn't have this sick killing for pleasure aspect.
?I think my family and I will get on just dandy without crossing paths with the groups REOM named.
MMML - what about a family that hunts for food? Like one deer or two per season that they eat? I see nothing wrong with that. Much more humane than factory farming.
I don't eat meat and would never hunt. But I can respect those who hunt for food.
Wow-what a brave post! We had guns in the house growing up and we were raised to never touch them. We never did. Now that I have a child and another on the way-I do feel like we need to do more because of "the world today" but my DH does have several guns for hunting and 1 handgun. We will be getting a gun safe and we currently keep everything locked and in separate places out of reach of DS in an upstairs room.
As far as MMML and the friends' house issue. I believe that if my child has been taught to stay away from guns and that they are to be respected-they won't have as big an issue when they go over. I would want to be aware however and make sure they are out of the kids reach and ability to get to them.
We don't have guns in our home but I grew up with them. ?My dad is a collector and an outdoors sportsman.
If you are responsible and follow all the safety precautions I don't think there is anything wrong with having guns. ?
No. Neither DH nor I would ever want to have a gun.
Here's my issue with keeping a gun in the house for protection: Either you have to keep it loaded and ready (because what criminal is going to wait for you to go to your gun cabinet, unlock it, find the gun, go somewhere separate, unlock the ammo, and load your gun?) and endanger your children, or you have to keep it locked separate from the ammo and it's useless to you in a home invasion/burglary situation.
The number of people who successfully use a gun as protection during a home burglary, etc. is miniscule, so I don't see the point in taking the risk.
Kiwi Fruit, 10.2.06 & Ellie Bug, 4.5.09
My blog: Bear With Us
Ideas on Teaching Your Toddler/Preschooler at Home
cubby you make a very good point about locking up guns and ammo in a separate place as far a having a gun for protection...it makes no sense.
I also firmly believe that if you have a gun for protection your are likely be shot by your own gun.
You're both complete fvcking stoopid bitches with small minds. Cops, rednecks or gangsters? Riiiiiiiight. Judgmental Assuming Dumbassses!
No one here likes you and this is a perfect example of why. I'm sure you don't eat meat since that would mean that someone, some evil not "nice person", killed an animal. And that's fine, but your logic sucks hardcore. I'll speak on behalf of the majority of people here. Go the fvck away. Seriously, your opinions are always so extreme and usually shiity.
Joe's guns are for target shooting --- it's fun and a GREAT stress reliever.
Don't knock it til you try it!
(I would advise to anyone that has a gun in their house to take a safety/gun course. I have taken it twice --- first time I didn't follow up and get my permit but took the class just b/c I knew we were going to have a gun in the house (at some point) and the second time, I took it so that I could follow up and get my permit, which, again, I never did! So I'm sure I'll take it a third time as well.)
We never had guns growing up, and don't have them now. DH mentions getting one every now and then, but neither one of us really knows how to use one so I think it would be a bad idea.
Absolutely not.
You take my ovaries, I take your yarns.
My thoughts exactly.
You take my ovaries, I take your yarns.
hmm..too bad military bases are in highly populated urban areas. Lots of guns around...
We don't have any guns. No reason except that we just haven't gotten around to it. We fully intend on owning guns in the future.
And people who have guns for protection don't leave them locked in a cabinet. They are fully loaded on the bedside table.
Yes, we own several handguns and rifles. They are safely locked up and away from the kids.
I grew up with them around me and have taken several safety classes.
We will teach our kids about gun safety and they will take classes as well.
Oh, and I don't consider myself a redneck or a gangster, nor am I a cop.
You can't be too cautious with gun safety.
That said, I married into a hunting family and they all have a bunch of guns. My FIL was a hunter safety teacher and I've always been impressed with the way the family handles their firearms. We have a gun safe with the majority of the guns and the ammo is stored separately. I have no intention of ever giving our children the password to the safe.
I'm am neither #1-redneck or #-2 gangster, and we have a firearm in our home.
However, its a WWII era historic Russian rifle (my hubby used to reenact) and they don't even make real ammo for it that i know of. We don't even have any in the house.
I have no problem with responsible gun usage. I actually want to learn how to shoot a handgun. We plan on buying one at some point and keeping it locked in a safe.
Yep..we have 3 for hunting and one for protection which is in a locked gun case that is under our bed. Both DH and I can load it and shoot it, well. It is in a case that has a combination, and only the two of us know it. As far as DS (or any future children go) they will be taught that guns are never to be touched. Until the point that they choose to go hunting with their father, at an appropriate age. We were taught to never touch guns as children and we will teach ours the same. You teach a respect of guns, and of life. These concepts CAN go together.
We also plan on buying a large gun safe to put in the garage. Probably with our tax return actually.. Anyway..to the OP, if you are very paranoid (which is ok) I highly recommend going to a gun safety class. You will become more comfortable if you know how to handle it yourself. Also put your guns in locked safes. The chances of your kid getting into a locked, combination gun safe is very unlikely. Make sure you always have the safety on the handguns, etc. You can be safe and your DH can still have his guns..GL!