Re: Question about guns in the home

Re: Question about guns in the home

We are not yet at the age of dropoff playdates but when that time comes I will ask if there are guns in the home, and if so how/where they are stored. We read a similar article last year encouraging parents to ask, and when we visited my ILs for the holidays DH asked my FIL to make sure his guns were all locked up and asked where they were located. FIL gave him an attitude about it but DH made it clear he meant business. There are so many people who are careless with their guns and don't secure them properly (my BIL included -- he keeps a loaded handgun in his nightstand drawer and SIL watches her DD and her nephew in their home) and every day its a few more stories about kids shooting themselves or other people with unsecured weapons. I read of 2 yesterday alone. It's a real concern and I have 2 young curious boys. Anyone who would give me a problem about asking is not someone I would want to associate with so I dont mind if me asking causes backlash

Re: Question about guns in the home

Here is my question:

For those of you who have firearms in the house, would you disclose that you did if a parent asked? And would you be truthful with whether they were accessible?

Re: Question about guns in the home

Re: Question about guns in the home

Question about guns in the home

I don't think I'd ever drop dd off at anyone's house if I:

hadn't visited the house myself multiple times
didn't know the parents well
trust the parents' judgement

That being said, while we do not have guns in the house, I would have no issue with dd going to a house with appropriately, responsibly stored firearms.

Re: Question about guns in the home

I always ask and always will! My dh and I are both very anti gun and wouldn't allow our child to play at someones home who had a firearm who wasn't law enforcement. I'd rather have play dates at my house where I know its safe and gun free!

Re: Question about guns in the home

I would probably not think of asking. I grew up in a home with a gun. My dad stored the bullets and gun separately. The gun was not in a safe, but was in an area that children could not access.

I will say I have first hand knowledge of what can go wrong though. My former student shot and killed his friend when he was 7th grade. It destroyed both families. The boy (now an 11th grader) is the sweetest kid, but it has definitely affected him.

Re: Question about guns in the home

Re: Question about guns in the home

My bill is a cop and my kids don't even know about the gun. When he lived at home it was Nina safe in his room, again rhey never knew.

We don't have imprimatur house and I've never been asked or have asked anyone. But wouldn't be offeneded if anyone asked me.

Re: Question about guns in the home

Re: Question about guns in the home

Message edited 4/29/2016 10:20:05 AM.

Re: Question about guns in the home

We haven't really had drop off play dates yet so it hasn't been an issue yet.

We do have guns in the house, however they are locked in gun safes with both fingerprint and combination locks and DS has no idea where the safes are. We own for protection, hunting, and range shooting.

For the poster that asked about being able to get to the gun in a timely manner if someone broke in...yes, an owner that properly knows how to use a gun can quickly do this. We keep a small handgun in a small gun safe in the bedroom. It takes literally 2 seconds to open via fingerprint and the clip is stored close by. It would take less than 20 seconds in total for one of us to get the gun out of the safe and load the clip in the event of an emergency. That's upstairs. We also have a gun safe downstairs (way too large to physically move) that we could access if we were downstairs at the time of a break in.

Re: Question about guns in the home

Message edited 4/29/2016 10:22:44 AM.

Question about guns in the home

I ask about guns and pets before my kids play at a new house - if they say yes to either, I ask where the guns are kept and I ask to meet the pets with my children before they play there.

Re: Question about guns in the home

Re: Question about guns in the home

Re: Question about guns in the home

Re: Question about guns in the home

Re: Question about guns in the home

To answer some of the questions posed:

1) We own them because we're hobbyists & like to shoot.

2) We never considered them for protection. If we're being robbed, we would not even attempt to get the guns. If you introduce a gun into a situation like that, you'd better be prepared for it to possibly be used on you or your family. We're not trained in law enforcement, so that's a definitely NO WAY for us.

3) We no longer keep them in our home (when we had our second ds we needed the bedroom where we stored them, so we moved them to my dad's house/safe for the next few years), but if we did I would absolutely tell anyone that asked that we had them in the home.

I have to admit that I've never asked when dropping my son off for a play date, but there's only one friend's house where he goes. I'm going to ask his mother the next time that we do. We have started training our oldest (6 1/2) in gun safety already. He's learned to always regard a gun as loaded (even if he's told that it's not), never to point them at anyone even if he's just playing and to run/get an adult if a friend ever pulls one out to look at or play with. He knows that there's no negotiating on this, but that being said, he's 6 - so we go over it frequently. If we're discussing stranger danger or fire safety, we're also discussing gun safety.

Message edited 4/29/2016 11:35:11 AM.

Re: Question about guns in the home

Re: Question about guns in the home

My husband is a hobbyist and likes to go to the range and wants to start hunting. We have several guns - all locked up in safes. Honestly, I dont even know how to get into the safes. My children haven't showed much interest. If someone asked if we had them, I would tell them we do. I wouldn't go around showing them where they are kept though.

Re: Question about guns in the home

Re: Question about guns in the home

Message edited 5/4/2016 1:07:09 PM.

Question about guns in the home

Do I ask? No.
Do I think of it? Nope
Do people ask me? Nope
If they did would I say I did? Yeah I guess, If I remembered. Mine aren't guns they are rifles
Why do I have them? They were my father's. I was holding them for him when he moved, he died. They stayed. They are not 'locked' away. They are safe. They are unloaded, wrapped, packed and up high. I often forget about them. I can't reach them. There is no ammo for them in my house.

I don't believe having guns make a house dangerous

I think having dangerous people makes a house dangerous.

I think kids ALWAYS get at things they are allowed to get at, period. My almost 8yr old has no access to my ipad. She wants to see something she has to ask me to unlock it. STILL. All her friends think that's odd. I don't care. She doesn't know the password. She tried to catch it once. I restricted the ipad use for a full day because she tried. Her friends tried to figure out my password and locked it, I took it away for the rest of the visit. passwords/locks/codes are for a reason. She doesn't know the passcode for our house alarm either.

She can't text on my phone, though her friends all do on their mother's phones. She wouldn't even know how to get to the message option or how to find her friends' mothers names. She's my kid. My job is to keep her safe, not give her access to everything in my home.

She doesn't even have kid youtube or whatever that thing is called.

I grew up with guns in the house and NEVER touched them or wanted to. It's education and respect


ETA: children who come over are never allowed in the room with the rifles because it would be awkward. They are in the living room, dining room, her room, backyard, kitchen. No need to get all the house. Sheesh!

Message edited 5/4/2016 2:16:30 PM.