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A buddy of mine from high school used to always post about what him and his 11 year old son were doing for "#SundayFunday." This was usually a small day trip, golfing, bowling, other sorts of activities like that. It was one of those things that made you smile.
Over the last few months, "Sunday Funday" has turned into "Sunday Gunday." His recent Facebook content is probably 2/3 firearm related. The dad works a day shift job and a second, part-time job in the evenings. He must get off around 11-12, and is posting about cleaning guns well into the early morning hours. He stopped by a 24 hour bakery last week and got a coffee, and had a handgun on the table in the bakery he put on Facebook. He had at least seven guns in one of the cleaning pictures, including an MP5. My guess is that he owns at least a dozen guns.
He now his son at the firing range at least every Sunday. There are pictures of the kid posing with guns, cleaning guns, etc. The gun content has basically crowded anything else.
I'm not anti-gun, but I find this a bit disturbing that all of their other weekend activities seem to be overridden by the dad's (seemingly fairly recent) gun obsession.
How do you handle the topic of guns with your kids?
My kids know to report to me if any of their friends or friends' parents have guns.
My kids will be allowed to be firearms enthusiasts like they will be allowed other risky pasttimes like motocross or parkour. I hope they won't waste too much of their time on such a pointless endeavour, but there are some benefits for niche groups that can be worth the increased risk of accidental or intentional self-or-friend-inflicted gunshot wounds.
If they are going to be industrial engineers, disassembling and cleaning firearms will give them an appreciation for how somewhat uncomplicated machines are designed. If they are going into the military--which I hope they do not--then becoming a sharpshooter would confer some benefits. If they want to hunt, or if they just enjoy shooting, they are free to use their own money to legally purchase firearms and ammunition and pay for trips to the shooting range.
If they were spending an inordinate amount of time or money on firearms, I would probably have them evaluated by a psychiatrist.
I would not let my children go to a house with potentially improprerly secured firearms, that I knew about. I would need to meet the children and parents of a household with firearms so I could evaluate their safety protocals. I would report someone--especially a white male--who was known to be a gun enthusiast and who was behaving erratically or who had had a major personality shift.
I grew up around guns and have always enjoyed them. It’s like anything else, cars and racing, different sports/hobbies, some people get bit by a bug and love to share their enthusiasm. The only cause for concern would be if there’s something wrong with the focus of the hobby but it just sounds like they’re having fun from what you said.
Part of the dad’s excitement could be that his youngster is doing really well with it. That’s the way it was with both of my parents. I really excelled at it, winning awards and championships in junior shooting competitions. My parents supported my memberships, travel, etc. They really got into it because I did.
Gun safety, responsibility, knowing the ins and outs of the mechanics. Considering the number of gun related scholarships and potential employment options - the sky is the limit.
I gave him a 22 rifle for Christmas previously - it is his gun, but it stays locked up in my safe. I take him to the range. And, I do nothing but sit next to him when he shoots. He can look at his gun or any of mine when he asks. I will make sure it is unloaded, and I watch him when he looks at it.
We started with him taking an airgun class at the American Legion for 1 year to teach him the basics and the safety rules.
When he is 21, I will hand the gun to him to do as he wants with it.
I want to wait until he is older before I let him shoot a handgun.
I gave him a 22 rifle for Christmas previously - it is his gun, but it stays locked up in my safe. I take him to the range. And, I do nothing but sit next to him when he shoots. He can look at his gun or any of mine when he asks. I will make sure it is unloaded, and I watch him when he looks at it.
We started with him taking an airgun class at the American Legion for 1 year to teach him the basics and the safety rules.
That's definitely the way to do it. It demystifies guns, and makes them about as exciting to the kid as any other tool. There's no better way to kill off the "allure of the forbidden," and to undo the gun (mis)handling lessons Hollywood is constantly broadcasting.
I grew up around guns, as my father was a collector. They were stored in locked safes, unloaded, but I had plenty of opportunities to handle them under supervision. As a result, they held the same level of interest to me as Dad's power tools out in the garage did. They were just there.
Last week's Time Magazine's cover story was about Guns in America. I was somewhat surprised to find the article was a very fair and balanced look at this complex issue and people's varying opinions. The article itself was rather brief, but then it had a full page photo and profile of 25-30 different people. A large percentage of the profiles were people who were gun owners, enthusiasts, hunters etc, including many children and teens. A common thread I noticed in all their comments was an appreciation of the dangers of guns, gun safety and respect. I think responsible gun owners who are serious about gun safety (which comprise the majority of gun owners, IMO) drill this into their kids from the beginning.
My kids are 11 and 8 and I definitely want them to know how to safely use a gun.
Last edited by Texas Ag 93; 10-30-2018 at 03:12 PM..
A buddy of mine from high school used to always post about what him and his 11 year old son were doing for "#SundayFunday." This was usually a small day trip, golfing, bowling, other sorts of activities like that. It was one of those things that made you smile.
Over the last few months, "Sunday Funday" has turned into "Sunday Gunday." His recent Facebook content is probably 2/3 firearm related. The dad works a day shift job and a second, part-time job in the evenings. He must get off around 11-12, and is posting about cleaning guns well into the early morning hours. He stopped by a 24 hour bakery last week and got a coffee, and had a handgun on the table in the bakery he put on Facebook. He had at least seven guns in one of the cleaning pictures, including an MP5. My guess is that he owns at least a dozen guns.
He now his son at the firing range at least every Sunday. There are pictures of the kid posing with guns, cleaning guns, etc. The gun content has basically crowded anything else.
I'm not anti-gun, but I find this a bit disturbing that all of their other weekend activities seem to be overridden by the dad's (seemingly fairly recent) gun obsession.
How do you handle the topic of guns with your kids?
If he and his son spent all their time exclusively with fishing and fishing poles, would you be equally upset?
Or exclusively with bicycles and bicycling?
Or exclusively with chess sets and chess playing?
Or exclusively with a French horn and practicing and playing classical music in a local orchestra?
No guns in my house. My house was for kids. The two don't mix.
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