Safe revolver your children can even play with >

[Flt Simulation]

WoW ... They don't make ads like this anymore!

"Papa says it won't hurt us"

Accidental discharge impossible

Absolutely safe ... Hammerless automatic revolvers $6.00

 

[Texan Scott]

Cool! I want one. Note that they also make bicycles, apparently.

"You may need one only once in your lifetime: buy now, so you will have it at that time." Still very sensible advice.

And since I know SOMEBODY'S going to comment on the little girl handling the gun: every gun I own has been unloaded and handed over to my kids to "mess with" until their curiosity was thoroughly satiated, with the promise that I'd do so again if they ask. That way, there's no need to see if they can pick a lock, pry open a box, or sneak it out to the shed to paw at it.

 

[hAkron]

Texan Scott, you are absolutely correct about letting your kids safely handle your guns. Kids are naturally curious and are especially drawn to forbidden or taboo things. Just as the anti-drug propaganda of the 40's and 50's led to a surge in drug use in the 60's, hiding guns or making them 'absolutely off limits' is a recepie for a curious kid to get him or herself into trouble. Teach a kid to respect potentially dangerous things rather than teaching them to be afraid.

 

[BCRider]

That ad sure is a great example of how "that was then, this is now". Can you imagine any firearm company putting an ad like that out today?

And I agree, if I had kids the same thing would apply. Each chance to handle the unloaded firearm would be a training session on how to inspect and handle it and RESPECT the abilities of such a tool. I'd likely even use some dummy rounds to test them. It would be treated like a Club's Secret Handshake that each time I were to hand them a gun that I'd check it and then they would check it. And muzzle control would be expected or they would have the gun taken back without examining until the following day.

The same thing would apply to the wood working knives, chisels and other cutting tools I have. Including the "sushi" sharp kitchen knives. It's never too early to start a proper education instead of denying.

 

[sota]

T.S.: question.... HOW did you let that happen? not in the judgemental vein, but in the I want my son to come to know firearms as what they are... mechanical objects that are tools, and like all other tools need to be handled properly less someone be hurt. I mean I don't want to just grab my son one day and go "here kid! play with daddy's gun!", but I would like to... encourage... his curiousity to ask about it so that I can educate him in the concrete versus the abstract. Any suggestions on how to gently steer him in that direction? He knows I have one (technically 2... don't tell the wife!) but he's never asked to see it, let alone touch it.

I hope I got that across without too much obama type colorations.

 

[Texan Scott]

Shoot the gun. Bring it inside (or back from the range, I suppose), and clean it in their full view. They WILL ask about it.

Discuss it in a clear, calm, truthful, and matter-of-fact manner. In this regard, getting children to ACCEPT what you say is easy. Being sure YOU can be clear, calm, truthful, and matter-of-fact about guns, violence, rights, and the law will be the hard bit. It may require a lot of thought and self-evaluation about your own beliefs and attitudes beforehand.

In other words, it WILL come up, and when it does, it really won't be any harder than a father talking to his daughter about why boys want sex.

Good luck.

 

[sota]

Thanks. I've thought alot about "The Talk" itself, but it's the initiation phase that I haven't had any method of creating. And for those wondering, yes I'd like to cause it to happen... so that I have some control over the when and where. Being in a slave state it would really suck to have him (in his useful innocence) blurt out "daddy? when can I see your GUN?" at an inopportune moment.

The cleaning time as a curiousity sparking moment could work nicely.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Iver Johnson produced inexpensive revolvers. They were famous for their 'hammer the hammer' advertising campaign, claiming the gun could not be accidentally discharged.






Inside they had a transfer bar, not too different from what Ruger uses today. The hammer never struck the firing pin, the hammer had to strike the transfer bar, which then struck the firing pin. If dropped on the hammer the gun would not discharge.

Yes, Iver Johnson used to produce bicycles too. Bicycles were becoming very popular at the end of the 19th Century and Iver Johnson got into that market to keep their production equipment busy. They also produced motorcycles for a while. They closed down the cycle part of the business as the US began its arms buildup just prior to WWII.

As far as safety is concerned and allowing children to play with guns as depicted in the previous advertisement, if the child could pull the trigger, the gun would fire. Here is an old Iver Johnson that I have in my collection.




A S&W Safety Hammerless was probably a safer gun because it incorporated a grip safety, similar to what is on a 1911, that had to be squeezed in order to fire the gun.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

And since I know SOMEBODY'S going to comment on the little girl handling the gun: every gun I own has been unloaded and handed over to my kids to "mess with" until their curiosity was thoroughly satiated, with the promise that I'd do so again if they ask. That way, there's no need to see if they can pick a lock, pry open a box, or sneak it out to the shed to paw at it.

I feel the same way. My daughter wanted to handle my pistol when she was about 6 or 7. I dropped the mag, cleared it, and went over the 4 safety rules with her (as I had already done many times before. She already had a .22 Cricket and we had discussed gun safety a lot). After explaining that a handgun was just like her .22 and that all rules were the same, I handed it to her.
If you don't satisfy their curiosity while they're under your supervision, they'll find a way to get ahold of it and satisfy it on their own, and that's when bad things happen. She doesn't have to sneak around, because she knows full well that any time she wants to handle one, she can. Now I wouldn't tolerate playing with one like it was a toy, but there's a difference between that and familiarizing yourself with a weapon.

 

[sgt127]

As a Police Officer, there was no way my kids weren't going to see my guns. We had a standing rule. Want to see one of my guns? Ask. And, they did. I would unload it, we would handle it, make sure to remind them not to point it at anything they weren't willing to destroy etc. Brief course in how to handle it, clear it, load it etc. Told them, anytime you want to see any of my guns, just ask. Want to go shoot them? let me know, we'll go to the range. Really, its no big deal. Don't touch them without permission, but, they are there for you to look at, handle and shoot any time you want to. You see a gun unattended, let me, or another adult know. Don't mess with it. You're at a friends house and they want to show you thier dads gun, tell them no and tell them if we go back to our house, dad will let them handle it AND shoot it any time. Its no big deal...k?

After a few weeks of "Can I see your gun?". It just faded out. It was just another thing around the house, like the blender, the saw, whatever.

I would occasionally test them. Leave an unloaded gun, within eyesight, on the coffee table. One of my sons would walk by and say: "Hey dad, your gun is on the coffee table..." and, thats it.