The post was titled, “Why certain people should NOT own guns.” It caught my eye because I figured it would be a funny (or not-so-funny) story about someone doing something foolish on a public range.
It wasn’t.
It was actually the story of a man having a conversation with his own stepmother, whom he believed was anti-gun because she was always giving him grief about his hobbies. Here’s the money quote:
I told her “Look, I like to shoot. I like paintball and airsoft…” … There was a short exchange about how if you don’t like guns, don’t own one, I don’t bring mine around here because it obviously offends you, etc.
OUT OF THE BLUE she goes “I actually own a gun, I keep it loaded for home protection! I don’t know where it’s at, but I have one…”
I was appalled.
My TODDLERS play in the closets and bedrooms of their house, and you’re telling me that you don’t have a clue where your LOADED 9mm is!??!??!?!
Want some lessons from this post? Sure! Here they are.
1) Don’t assume that your children will never see a loaded gun, just because you lock your guns up. Yes, if you own a gun, you should lock it up whenever it’s not under the immediate control of a responsible adult. And so should every responsible gun owner! But don’t fool yourself: not everyone has gotten that memo.
That brings us to the next point.
2) Don’t assume that people who hate guns don’t own them. Sometimes they do. Sometimes you’ve misunderstood someone’s “hatred” of guns and it’s really something else entirely — a distaste for a political position, a distrust of the people listening to the conversation, some kind of rhetorical point or just a little misdirection so they won’t have to deal with a touchy subject. Sometimes the people you least expect to own guns, do. And (see point #1) sometimes, those people store their guns in incredibly stupid ways.
Which brings us to the most important point of all:
3) Your kids need to know what to do if they find a gun. This is true even if you never intend to take your children to the range with you, even if you hate guns, even if you think that nobody in your life will ever expose your kids to guns, even if your kids are small and irresponsible little people. You might even think it’s awful that you have to teach your kids how stay safe around firearms. But that does not change the world around you even one tiny bit. It doesn’t change your neighbors, your relatives, or your friends. More than half the homes in America have guns in them and I guarantee you that the gun ownership in every single one of those homes is a surprise to somebody.
Don’t know where to start? Start here: Teach your kids what to do if they find a gun.
As I’ve said many times before, if you want to protect yourself and the people you love, you must work with the world where you actually live, not the world you wish you lived in.
If you see a gun, STOP!
Don’t touch it.
Leave the area.
Tell an adult.
Don’t remember who gets credit for this:
You can’t childproof the world, so you must world-proof the child.
Works with “gun-proof” as well.
Time to give Stepmom a gift certificate for SOMEONE ELSE to take her to the range.
When I was growing up guns were all around, we were taught if you want to see a gun go see Dad, Grandpa, Grandma etc, they would stop what they were doing and show it to us. If at a friends house more or less the same thing. We were told to never touch a gun without and adult supervising, and that all guns are always loaded. When I was older I was given the job of maintaining Dad’s guns and the first thing was eject the ammo and drop the cleaning rod down the barrel. If you take the mystery of out and item, kids tend not to be drawn to them in bad situations. Then I am 59 so I might now be out of touch…