At 08:51 15-03-01 -0600, Marvin Long wrote:
>My main point, though, is that if you have kids then even the most
>careful instruction in firearm safety isn't really sufficient to protect
>them from themselves with respect to your guns, because kids are still
>kids. I admit that I'm basing this insight on personal history and not
>objective research, but I'm willing to guarantee that if you have a kid,
>and if you have a gun, and if that gun is accessible to that kid, then
>that kid will play with that gun multiple times over the years when you
>aren't looking (if the kid's a boy, anyway...girls might be different).
>By teaching him firearm safety you reduce the chances that he will
>accidentally blow off his own or somebody else's head, but you don't
>eliminate it.
Then I guess I and the people I knew growing up are unusual, because I can
say with absolute honesty that I never touched my father's gun without
permission, and I was never invited by any of my friends to see theirs.
The point is, when I was growing up, real guns just weren't that big a
deal. They were there for specific purposes, like hunting or protection,
and for emulating our favorite TV heroes, there were plenty of toy guns
available, and we knew the difference. So what has changed about the way
kids are brought up since those days, and how do we get back there?
-- Ronn! :)
