Firstly, if this is not the proper place for this question please move it administators. I apologize in advance if I posted this in the wrong place.
I write this because it seems that those with CCW would be more apt to experience this at some point. HOW do you or WHAT do you do to teach your kids, grandkids or nieces and nephews respect for a handgun, or even shotguns and rifles.
We are all human. As careful as we would like to think we are - EVENTUALLY we WILL make a mistake. Perhaps washing up or grabbing a quick shower... we are home alone and the wife comes home with the kid(s) or grandkid(s) etc unexpectedly. Our holster or shoulder rig is laying out or on hanging on the bathroom door on the OTHER side.
What steps have you done to help protect against mistakes?
I can honestly say my granddaughter has better gun handling skills than a lot of my family and friends do. From a small age she was taught to either leave it along or pick it up ONLY by the handle if need be. Her fingers wrap around the HANDLE or GRIP. She NEVER puts her fingers near the trigger. ALL guns are ALWAYS loaded. The same went for our daughter.
When our granddaughter was younger and living with us, after feeling she could be trusted from drilling it in her head ( she was less than 4 years old I might add) we would appear to leave the room and leave a small handgun on the kitchen table or end table etc.( UNLOADED and safety on if possible) with my wife in a room hiding but yet a field of view to her and also me in my den, or seemimg so, watching her.
She left it alone. Once when we had first gotten our poodle ( Hey in her mind the dog was a baby...didn't reason to her an animal is not like a human baby) she actually picked it up because neither of us appeared to hear her hollering and my den door was "closed" ( another issue of teaching) and took it to my wife. She picked it up off the table with both hands around the grip and backstrap only, held it out from her body a little bit, muzzle down, and carried it to her Nan who "was in the bathroom" .., because a baby doesn't know guns "can hurt you". She had to get it away from him.
We have also taken great pains to teach our nieces and nephews who visited us and even stayed with us for a night, or weekend, or a couple weeks in the summer. Now that we are seeing great nieces and nephews we will do the same with them, as I know their parents are doing so.
It is NOT something we like to think about. It is so easy to say "That will never happen to me." but it eventually DOES happen. Maybe no one was involved even while there were small children in the house. Perhaps it was upstairs and the family was downstairs. What would have happened if a small one snuck upstairs during that time?
I will bet if you have been in the gun world for any length of time, and you ARE honest with yourself. a mistake DID happen. Think about it.
Respectfully,
Brizz
I write this because it seems that those with CCW would be more apt to experience this at some point. HOW do you or WHAT do you do to teach your kids, grandkids or nieces and nephews respect for a handgun, or even shotguns and rifles.
We are all human. As careful as we would like to think we are - EVENTUALLY we WILL make a mistake. Perhaps washing up or grabbing a quick shower... we are home alone and the wife comes home with the kid(s) or grandkid(s) etc unexpectedly. Our holster or shoulder rig is laying out or on hanging on the bathroom door on the OTHER side.
What steps have you done to help protect against mistakes?
I can honestly say my granddaughter has better gun handling skills than a lot of my family and friends do. From a small age she was taught to either leave it along or pick it up ONLY by the handle if need be. Her fingers wrap around the HANDLE or GRIP. She NEVER puts her fingers near the trigger. ALL guns are ALWAYS loaded. The same went for our daughter.
When our granddaughter was younger and living with us, after feeling she could be trusted from drilling it in her head ( she was less than 4 years old I might add) we would appear to leave the room and leave a small handgun on the kitchen table or end table etc.( UNLOADED and safety on if possible) with my wife in a room hiding but yet a field of view to her and also me in my den, or seemimg so, watching her.
She left it alone. Once when we had first gotten our poodle ( Hey in her mind the dog was a baby...didn't reason to her an animal is not like a human baby) she actually picked it up because neither of us appeared to hear her hollering and my den door was "closed" ( another issue of teaching) and took it to my wife. She picked it up off the table with both hands around the grip and backstrap only, held it out from her body a little bit, muzzle down, and carried it to her Nan who "was in the bathroom" .., because a baby doesn't know guns "can hurt you". She had to get it away from him.
We have also taken great pains to teach our nieces and nephews who visited us and even stayed with us for a night, or weekend, or a couple weeks in the summer. Now that we are seeing great nieces and nephews we will do the same with them, as I know their parents are doing so.
It is NOT something we like to think about. It is so easy to say "That will never happen to me." but it eventually DOES happen. Maybe no one was involved even while there were small children in the house. Perhaps it was upstairs and the family was downstairs. What would have happened if a small one snuck upstairs during that time?
I will bet if you have been in the gun world for any length of time, and you ARE honest with yourself. a mistake DID happen. Think about it.
Respectfully,
Brizz