Unsafe for children to be in homes with guns...

FiveInADime said:

So says the sheet I brought home from my son's doctors office after his one-year checkup. I'm sure this has been brought up before but I had a little chuckle when my wife read that to me. I grew up in a home with all of the firearms in an unlocked closet. Mostly rifles and shotguns except for two Ruger revolvers. I was instructed from the earliest age possible that if I touched a gun without an adult present I would be promptly spanked and sent to bed without dinner (no dinner was a big deal to me). Never went near the guns, neither did any of our child visitors.

I intend to teach my son the strictest firearm safety rules from the earliest age possible just as my father did for me. It's troubling to see the anti crowd using this sort of indoctrination and it shows me that I need to do my part and then some to maintain our Constitutional right.

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Does it cite a source? Odds are it's one of the Kellerman studies that have already been completely discredited.

What about when kids play with toy guns? Do you allow them to point those guns at each other? I ask this as a serious question for I have small children and I don't want to send the wrong message for later down the road when I teach them about REAL guns. We have those nerf dart guns now... If this isn't the direction you were going with this thread just let me know and I will start a new one... Thanks...

All of grandpaws guns were and are loaded! Corpral punishment is used. I didnt turn out very warped

What about when kids play with toy guns? Do you allow them to point those guns at each other? I ask this as a serious question for I have small children and I don't want to send the wrong message for later down the road when I teach them about REAL guns.

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We're talking about human children, not chimpanzees. I grew up with all kinds of toy guns, and we played with them as intended. Never once did I mistake the real thing for a toy, and I knew full well what would happen if I touched my dad's firearms without his express permission. I got my first BB gun at age 6, but I wasn't allowed to actually take possession of it until I had memorized the ten commandments. Once that was done, I was basically turned loose with the thing, with the understanding that if I ever used it on a pet or another human being, I'd have the stock broken over my posterior.

I remember my dad didn't allow me to aim a toy gun at anyone. Even knowing that it was a toy gun. And that If I touched a real gun without him being present I would be punished. I never touched a gun without him being present.

FiveInADime said:

So says the sheet I brought home from my son's doctors office after his one-year checkup....... It's troubling to see the anti crowd using this sort of indoctrination and it shows me that I need to do my part and then some to maintain our Constitutional right.

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I see it as a anti-gun bias by the medical profession. Singling out firearms as a safety issue while not mentioning other possible hazards like power tools, electricity or household cleaners underneath the sink is anti-gun bias. I would venture to guess that they failed to mention that leaving car keys out on the table would also invite the child to steal the car and run down people too.

I suggest making a copy of that sheet and submit it/ publish it to NRAILA, GOA and other pro-gun sites and related forums along with the doctor's name and address. Perhaps by exposing this, it could get the attention of other gun owners and could force the doctor (or the facility) to stop issuing this sort of paperwork.

That is how I see this

Yeah I have two nieces that live with me (aged 3 and 5). When I was a kid my dad kept his guns just leaning in the corner of the room (often loaded) but I do at least keep mine in a safe.

The older of the two came in while I was cleaning one of my pistols just last night and when I was function checking it and racking the slide she said "Bubba that's kinda creepy.". When I asked whey she said "Cuz I feel like you're gonna shoot me.".

She's never really had a fear of guns before so I stopped and showed her how I was pointing the gun away from her, and that my finger wasn't on the trigger, and then stressed that when you hold a gun you make sure you never point it at anyone and never touch the trigger unless you're gonna shoot it.

That peaked her curiosity and she asked when you DO shoot the gun and I explained about going to the range and such and told her I'd take her out soon (I'm hoping to get her shooting at around 8 - IMHO she's still just a bit too young, though I might start her on airsoft soon).

She already knows to come get me if she finds a random bullet lying around.

Bottom line, teach them about guns and not only are they not in any danger, but they ALSO will be much more likely to actually be able to handle them properly when they do grow up.

I'd personally have a bone to pick with that Dr

What about when kids play with toy guns? Do you allow them to point those guns at each other? I ask this as a serious question for I have small children and I don't want to send the wrong message for later down the road when I teach them about REAL guns. We have those nerf dart guns now... If this isn't the direction you were going with this thread just let me know and I will start a new one... Thanks...

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Toys are toys, kids will point them at each other; how else are you suppose to play army or cops & robbers? I agree with the person that said the red rider should be treated as if its a real gun. A pellet gun was my first introduction to gun safety and it was "always loaded".

Another point on toys, I grew up just as they were adding bright orange tips to all the toys, and even though I hated at the time that's probably a good idea. There was a local incident where some kids playing with realistic looking air soft guns caused a scare; no charges or anything were filed and no one was hurt but I imagine it was a bit traumatizing.

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"Unsafe for children to be in homes with guns... "

So says the sheet I brought home from my son's doctors office...

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Hmph. It is "unsafer" for kids to be allowed to walk on driveways where cars are parked!

This is outrageous.

:banghead:

Old story but. Economist Steven Levitt lost a son to illness and was in a support group for parents who had lost kids. One parent remarked that they were not going to let their kids play at little Suzie's home because the family owned guns but rather let them play at little Polly's (after all they had a nice swimming pool in the backyard). Levitt did a little math on homes with guns, homes with backyard pools, accidental home shootings and backyard drownings and concluded the pool in the backyard is 100 times more likely to kill a kid than the gun in the house.

Did the doctor pass out a letter stating that you should not have a pool in your backyard or allow your child in homes with pools?

Yep. Guns are dangerous, you know. But it's perfectly acceptable to encourage them in a promiscuous lifestyle that has them dead of AIDS by age 25. Don't you understand?

FiveInADime, any way you can scan the pamphlet and post it here? I'd like to see it and take it apart. I also agree with Midwest's suggestion of sending a copy of it with the Dr's name and address to some RKBA advocacy groups.

Matt

Why you all are so misinformed its ridiculous! Don't you know that having a gun within 30 feet of any child even safely locked away and unloaded causes spontaneous combustion of all human life forms??

In all seriousness I grew up around guns my whole life, not in my own house but hunting and fishing with my grandfather every summer. The gun case was unlocked and I even knew where the bullets were. I was taught at a young age gun safety and the consequences of ever handling a gun without permission. I turned out fine and with alot of good "common sense" which isn't to common nowadays.

Did the doctor pass out a letter stating that you should not have a pool in your backyard or allow your child in homes with pools?

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This. If the doctor is not passing out flyers for ALL of the top killers of children (ESPECIALLY Drowning, Fires, traffic accidents, poisoning, and suffocation, as these ALL have higher incidents of death in children than firearms), then this is nothing more than propaganda.

Your child is more likely to die from a plastic kroger bag at your neighbors house than the gun locked in his safe.
Your child is more likely to die from the pool in your neighbor's back yard than the gun locked in his safe.
Your child is more likely to die from the poison under your neighbor's sink than the gun locked in his safe.
Your child is more likely to die from the vehicle trip to the local playground with your neighbor's kid than the gun locked in your neighbor's safe.

If your doctor does not warn about ALL of these things BEFORE warning about guns, then your doctor is more concerned about the guns in your safe than your children.

The unfortunate reality is that a child under 6 is more likely to die because 1) MOM wasn't paying any attention and they drowned in the wading pool, or 2) MOM was texting while driving and got into a fatality accident.

Kids die from negligent moms. Sorry. Read the statistics. But, for crying out loud, don't ever let out you know that. We worship the female in society today and can't ever point fingers to the real cause of death.

Where is the handout on that?

I would love to be the host of a half hour reality show explaining this kind of stuff. Piers Morgan would be considered a powderpuff after that. "And, in the lead news article, the Monster Who Demonized Women was dragged out of the studio one day after his controversial show airing the real causes of childhood death, by an angry mob of mothers. He was brutally beaten with strollers, dumped in a kiddie pool, and then run over by a caravan of SUV's with soccer team logos on the back window. His last words were - oh, we can't say that on the news. Oh well. Good riddance."

"In other news, our Saviours in the White House proposed rescinding the 2nd Amendment today, with the reason that "if it saves one child's life we should take that step." The throng of supporters outside was interrupted by police officers searching for the caretaker of two children left in a locked van four blocks away. It seems she, um they were distracted by the choice of which Starbucks to buy a latte at as both were across the street from each other. The hazards of DC life. Can you imagine - across the street from each other? What do you do?

Our family Doctor and Dentist each have mounts/photos of the various critters they've dispatched in their offices. Our Dentist has a full mount boar on display and now owns a gun shop. Our Doctor has coached his son's shooting team. My point---don't settle for sub-par medical care from yahoos.

Funny, my doctor gave me a pamphlet that says don't go to the doctor because they inadvertantly kill people with misdiagnosis, malpractice and prescribing of bad drugs.

I really miss my lawn darts. sigh

be safe

My point---don't settle for sub-par medical care from yahoos.

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That is a good point. If this doc does have really bent feelings on firearms, would he be the type to call the state in when your kids is telling him about all the fun he had shooting over the weekend?

sauer1911 said:

I really miss my lawn darts. sigh

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You and me both.