Gun Control/Rights

[MrsK]

What do you tell your kids about guns and playdates? Do you ask other parents if they have guns when you send your kids to play? I get freaked out about this since my boys are at an age where everything is a "pewer" (as in guns go "pew pew") and they would have no fear or comprehension if they came in contact with the real thing.

[diggitydot]

Gun Control/Rights

Our kids are all trained to assume ALL guns are loaded until otherwise informed. One of the families that DD1 used to babysit for had guns of all kinds literally leaned up against the walls in every corner in every room. She stopped watching their kids in part because it freaked her to hell out to have SO many unsecured weapons in a house with two toddlers.

[samssugarmomma]

Yup - even our 3 year old knows that our guns are off limits and she is never to touch them. Not that we leave them lying around where one of them could reach it…… but they do see us clean them and put them on. I'm not sure that they pay attention to where we store them. We don't make a big deal about where we keep them. But its been ingrained into them to never touch them, just as its been ingrained to say please and thank you.

And yes, I have asked if homes have weapons and how they are stored. I figure that I'm letting someone take responsibility for my child for a few hours, I should at least get the peace of mind of knowing the other party is responsible. No one has ever gotten offended…. or at least…. no one has ever acted offended and never asked us back! I also ask about pets cause we don't have any and my kids aren't used to them. Despite begging for a dog, they are terrified of them when they encounter them. At 20 months and 3 my littlest ones are not yet ready to go to someone's house without me so I don't worry too much there….cause I can see them the entire time. But my 5 and 9 year old understand that not only are they not to touch one, if they ever see another kid with one, they are to leave the room and find a grownup. Immediately. We practice that just like we go over basic safety things like - what would you do if you got lost? whats your address? whats mommy's cell phone number? what would you do if your playmate found a gun?

And, I might have a different approach if my kids had different personalities. My 9 year old is a rule follower. She won't even get food from the fridge without asking. There is no way in hell that she'd ever touch one. And she's such a tattle tail she'd burn her feet running away from any friend that picked one up at someone else's house. My 5 and 3 year old are a little more brazen, but they already understand that the rules regarding touching knives (kitchen ones), guns, going outside alone, taking off their seat belts while driving…. those just never get broken. They are also tattle tails so they'd love to get someone in trouble for breaking an important rule. My 20 month old is a hellion and the only one of my kids to ever attempt to put a fork in an outlet. Not sure what if anything will have to change for her since we already keep things locked up unless we are carrying…..




Loaded guns leaning against the walls? That's ridiculous. See, that's what I'm talking about….. *responsible* gun ownership.