I heard that in Texas you can get in a lot of trouble if the law, particularly Child Protective Services (CPS) discovers you have guns in your home where children can get to them. If they're in sight, children can get to them. I have enough kids to know: if they see it and want to touch it, they sure will find a way.
My ex-wife, with whom I have one child (the child lives with me full-time) got in a hassle with CPS because she and her current husband and their kids were staying with a relative of his who pulled some dumb stunt, I don't remember exactly what, and she called me and told me I better make sure our guns were locked up, because her caseworker was talking about paying me a visit since I have custody of our daughter. The caseworker never showed up, but I think Texas CPS requires anyone with minor kids keep firearms under lock and key, at least if they come by checking out your residence. I can't recommend leaving firearms out where kids can get to them in any case. I know some kids, even when quite young can be trusted, but you sure can't trust very many of them, and if a group of them is together and finds a gun...Better to keep them locked up.
Take my advice, I'm not using it:
We keep a couple of hunting rifles in a locked cabinet, but our home defense guns and ammo are hidden in places like, for one example, a cabinet with a false back which can only be opened in a certain way unless you go after it with an ax, heavy hammer, circular saw, something like that. No one but the adults in the house knows where any of the defense guns are hidden, and we never leave the young kids home alone. Before we got a good dog our house was burglarized twice about 10-12 years ago while no one was home. None of the defense guns were found by the crooks either time, and it was obvious the second time especially that the thief or thieves took their time, ransacking through almost everything and obviously making multiple trips to their vehicle. They must have been in the house at least an hour or so, and took some furniture, stereos, TVs, clothes, towels and linens, jewelry, silver flatware, even dishes, pots and pans, camping equipment, food, hunting and fillet knives; just a whole lot of stuff.
That reminds me my youngest daughter came home from a private, church-run preschool she attended and announced that guns are bad and only bad people have them. Then she told me I should throw my guns away.
What are they teaching our kids?
I had a talk with her about guns and safety, The American Revolution and Constitution, the 2nd Amendment...well, I talked until she got bored, and I still talk with her often about things like that and modern news too. Anyway I took her target shooting that afternoon, of course taking along some plastic coke bottles filled with water. She's 10 now, loves target shooting, and has the utmost respect for firearms. Honestly, she will not touch a firearm without a parent's permission. She also knows a great deal more about the Revolution, the Constitution, US history, and the modern political scene than a lot of kids who are 5 or 6 years older than she is. We have to teach our children what our schools don't, and correct the things they teach wrong.
