Need help-effects of youth being taught about guns?

[Cal-gun Fan]

Hey guys, writing an article on teaching youth about firearms for my high school newspaper. Basically, there was an incident recently in my city where the police were out at a neighborhood exhibit. A lot of people got mad because several children were allowed to handle safety-checked firearms under SWAT supervision. None of the children/parents complained.
I want my article to site information that teaching youth about guns is a good thing and not a hindrance to society. I've done some searches on google but would like to hear some information that the High Road community might have, thanks!

 

[PowerG]

I think it's a great way to teach responsibility, maybe the best way. Growing up in the time and place I did most kids were expected to be able to be turned loose on their own with a shotgun at 12-13 years of age. Naturally some didn't reach that mark, but most did.

 

[oneounceload]

When you demystify something you make it less desirable - when you tell someone, especially a kid, that they CAN'T do something, then they want to do it even more

Taught my kids at the age of 6 - never had an issue with them touching the nightstand gun nor telling their friends - the mystery wasn't there

 

[Frozen North]

As the father of three young boys, I can say without a doubt that children that are exposed to a responsible culture involving guns are far less likely to get shot or shoot someone accidentally. I expose my boys to guns, let them shoot, and teach them how to do it well. My boys know that unsafe gun handling or discharge make you look like a noob, and it is never cool to be a noob.

My sisters demonize guns, so my nephews seem to have a total magnetism to firearms. The scary part is that none of them even have the slightest idea how to handle them properly.

I overheard a conversation between one of my sons and one of my nephews a few months ago..

My nephew) hey James, did you really get a new gun?

My son) yep, it's in dad's safe.

My nephew) Can you get into it without getting caught?

My son) Yeah, but I will just go get my dad to open it.

My nephew) What if he says no?

My son) Dad will take it out for me, it's my gun. If he catches me in that safe without him there, he will take it away forever. If we are super nice, I bet he will even take us out back shooting.

My nephew) my mom wont let me, lets just go look at it. Your dad is busy anyway.

My son) Jeez Logan, aint you ever seen a .22 before, chill out! I will go ask my dad, I ain't going near that safe without him. He will kill us both dead you idiot...

So James came and asked, the three of us went out and shot .22 for a few hours. My sister was upset, but she will get over it.

Even if Logan did talk James into opening that safe, I know James would have been safe with the guns. Logan.... not so much..... The difference is how the two boys were exposed to guns.

Guns are all over the place, you cant hide your kids from them! When one knot head kid finds a revolver in a friends garage, at least your kid will know how to handle it without anyone getting shot.

Sending a kid into our society with no knowledge of guns and gun safety is like sticking them in a car on the freeway without knowing the traffic laws.

 

[bergmen]

You might want to contact the NRA and ask about the Eddie Eagle Program that teaches gun safety to children.

They may have statistics that I once saw that indicated that children related gun accidents are far more likely in homes where children have not been taught gun safety.

Dan

 

[Skribs]

One thing antis will say is that kids would be less likely to accidentally shoot someone if there are no guns. What you should also talk about is the respect it teaches them for property - you are going to treat a handgun a lot different than you are a piece of furniture.

 

[oneounceload]

I think you are going to find a common theme throughout the answers from those of us who had kids - Take the Mystery and Allure Out of the Equation"

I grew up in a house where there two guns - my dad's cop guns - no hunting, shooting or anything except "don't touch those" - right...I grew up on TV in the 60's and 70's with reruns from the 50's thrown in -all those cop shows, etc. Of COURSE I touched them when no one was around - I knew how to load and unload them(revolvers) but there was that "Oh NO, I'm not allowed" allure.

With my kids, I wanted to dispel that to make sure they stayed safe and had fun. By starting early, they were exposed to them, learned safety, and in general, once the "big mystery" was explained - the desire to play with them went away

 

[oneounceload]

One thing antis will say is that kids would be less likely to accidentally shoot someone if there are no guns.

Substitute "stab" and "knives", or even better, "die in a wreck" and "cars", or "get pregnant" and "sex" for "shoot" and "guns"

 

[Bobson]

You might want to contact the NRA and ask about the Eddie Eagle Program that teaches gun safety to children.

They may have statistics that I once saw that indicated that children related gun accidents are far more likely in homes where children have not been taught gun safety.

Excellent idea. The NRA has got to have a lot of great information for the paper - don't neglect the opportunity to use it.

 

[Gunnerboy]

Use africa as an example.

 

[TIMC]

How about this; here is an on going case study of how a child will turn out when they are taught to handle guns at an early age and that is me!

I first started learning to shoot at the age of 6 under the supervision of my father and yes my mother too who was also an excellent shot.

After moving from targets to sitting in the deer blind with one of my parents and shooting a lot of small game like rabbits and quail I was finally allowed to take a deer at the age of 9.

At the age of 10 I was given my very first rifle for Christmas and was allowed to hunt by myself.

Now I am in my 50's and more than 45 years of hunting and shooting experience. I still collect guns and load my own ammunition, target shoot and still love hunting. I think I am fairly well adjusted, have a great family with a wife, children and grandchildren. I have great job, never killed anyone, never wanted to, member of my church, give to charity.

So no teaching children to handle guns is not a bad thing; they can turn out just fine.

 

[Cal-gun Fan]

Thank you very much for all the responses guys! This is a great help, if anyone else has opinions/info to put in please do!

 

[mortablunt]

I just graduated High School so I can give you some recent memories.

To me, learning about guns and how to shoot was the most empowering, therapeutic thing I have ever done. Without the firearms, I would not be half so well adjusted as I am now. I learned a lot through learning how to use guns properly.

 

[Shadow 7D]

Use something as simple as instructing a child about a road, consider a child raised in a rural village with only a passing SECOND HAND knowledge of cars (you could tell this story in the beginning of your article) Now have him visit his cousin in NY NY, or San Fran or LA (whatever your readers will respond to) and present the following safety problem

You have 2 ten year-olds (or 12 or...) facing a busy street
One wishes to run into the street, star at the cars and touch it etc.
The other wishes to get to a cross walk and try to get the idiot across the street without him dying
What is the difference. One has knowledge of cars, and streets, and the deadly Hazard the pose to someone in their path.
The innocent is simply seeking a new experience, excited to see what he has only heard of, and oblivious to the danger.

THIS IS the situation that faces every firearms trained child, since eventually they will face an idiot who believes Call Of Duty is REAL and how you hold a WII or XBox controller is the SAME as how you deal with a REAL LIVE GUN.

Close with the Thought Experiment about the military
where do the majority of Firearms mishaps occur In Basic training - where recruits are taught the basics of marksmanship and firearms handling
OR Overseas - were EVERYBODY has LIVE ammo and carries their firearm all day, every day.

BTW, it's basic, yeah, they happen in theater too, but in basic, if you consider that you have hours of 'live' gun time to Months to years in a war zone, the per hour accident rate is astronomical.

 

[doc2rn]

I agree when I was growing up every kid had a fishing pole and a .22 by age 10. Nowadays parents would be scared to consider this, liability.
I have taught my daughter about guns and let her handle them once checked since she was 5. They hold no mistery, she likes shooting .22s with dad but thats all, she is a good shot (drew a smiley face with it).

 

[Shadow 7D]

Yeah, and My next door neighbor, who grew up when the dinosaurs roamed, flew P-51's that were cheaper to buy than a used car, till the engine blew and he landed in a farmers field and traded him the plane (I think he said you could buy the guns too, but they cost more from the Air Force) for a car

He told me stories (and taught me the 4 rules, even though I didn't know what they were, in exchange for putting a star in his front window with my BB gun- yes I got the better end of that deal)

of when he was a kid, and one of his class mates was killed, playing cops and robbers with their .22's as they were only shooting .22 shorts... and his dead classmate's best friend or brother (I forget) heard a rattle in some brambles and shot, killing this kid.

It's not new, and it all comes back to education. BTW this would have happened in the 30's, as he was just too young to be drafted, but his older brothers served. The difference now, is the kids would have no idea that they should know better.

 

[hso]

It's like sex ed, teach a child properly and you'll help make them safe.

Regardless of what "properly" is there will always be people who don't agree because they can cite failures easier than successes.

 

[A strange person]

I remember being picked on in school. I got sick of it one day and walked up to a bunch of my tormentors and pummeled one of them into the ground. I was suspended for a few days. Fearing retaliation, I took my dad's shotgun, figured out how to load it, and kept it near me as I served my suspension at home.

If I had been properly instructed in the use of firearms, I would have known that Remington #6 gameloads would not be an adequate defensive load.

 

[browneu]

Its a controlled environment where the kids get to handle something they see on TV. What are the protestors afraid of? Its not like it turned the kids into raging murders. More harm will come from the children playing COD. I wonder how many of these parents let their kids play that video game.

Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk

 

[mortablunt]

Hey, it's good PR, shows that the good guys can use the scary guns too, and the kids were around responsible people with the weapons. I think this thing should happen more often.

 

[Tallinar]

It's all about de-mystification, as others have said.

Teach your kids how to safely handle guns at an early age. This will both remove curiosity, as well as build a sense of responsibility and respect in your kids.

My nephew) hey James, did you really get a new gun?

My son) yep, it's in dad's safe.

My nephew) Can you get into it without getting caught?

My son) Yeah, but I will just go get my dad to open it.

My nephew) What if he says no?

My son) Dad will take it out for me, it's my gun. If he catches me in that safe without him there, he will take it away forever. If we are super nice, I bet he will even take us out back shooting.

I love this. This is exactly how it should be. Kudos to you for building that sort of relationship and respect with your son - and kudos to your son.

 

[mortablunt]

^ It's the same with how my parents always kept their alcohol and liquors out in the open. Therefore, when I got older, I really didn't care. Now I'm in college and I get to go on drunk watch.

 

[Mudinyeri]

hso beat me to it. Would the same people who got mad about kids being taught gun safety be mad if the same kids were taught about safe sex ... or safe driving ... or any other safety program? Why is it wrong to teach children about gun safety but not about other kinds of safety?

You might start with something along those lines as your premise.

As far as research goes, I think the most exhaustive gun safety program in the U.S. would be a great place to start - the Hunter Safety program. I'm sure if you contacted your state's Hunter Safety program coordinator, he or she would be happy to help you with some statistics related to the reduction in hunting accidents related to the number of hunters certified through the program.

 

[CoRoMo]

My nephew) Can you get into it without getting caught?

My son) [strike]Yeah, but I will just go get my dad to open it.[/strike] No. I don't know the combination.

This will be my son's response.

 

[MyGreenGuns]

My mom's church used to say, "Insulate, not Isolate." Meaning you have to give a basic amount of knowledge about a subject, not just say, "Dont do it." Having the knowledge does remove (most) of the mystery. I dont have to try it myself, if I've already been shown how it works. Kids have little concept of the dangers in the world, we were all invincible at that age.

I missed a fair amount of training on various subjects during my childhood.

Found a bow and arrow: "Dont play with it" ~ shot a hole in the bedroom wall.
Found a crossbow: "Dont touch it" ~ nearly shot myself in the head
Driving: "You can drive when you have a license" ~ 3 wrecks in first 2 years
Sex: "Just dont have sex" ~ Had my child @ 18 years old

PARENTS NEED TO EDUCATE THEIR CHILDREN!!! There is a generation of kids being raised by "Call of Duty" and ANTI's. If these kids get a gun they will march around like a proud soldier, pointing it at people and most likely finger ON the trigger. (Do you know anyone who plays videogames with the finger OFF the trigger?) Much respect to the poster (and his child) who said, "I'll just get my dad to open it." That sounds like a kid being prepared for the REAL world and not the dream world the parents wish they were living in.