My intent was not to say that a person who has no intentions of owning a gun should go a buy one just to teach their children about guns. The intent of the post was for all children to be taught what guns are, and what the realities of them are – that’s it. I think that your plan to teach gun awareness and safety is an excellent thing to do, and I don’t think that you need to own a gun to succeed at that task. Nor would I ever insist that anyone needs to own a gun if they don’t choose to do so.

My main point, and I think I might be repeating myself, was that all kids should be taught about guns and about gun safety, whether a gun is in their home or not. I would never expect a parent who chooses not to own a gun to purchase one just to teach their child gun safety. I am going to teach my child about gun safety with a hands-on approach, but I would never force that particular way on everyone else. And I would certainly never put anyone down who chooses not to own a gun, I just think it is a foolish practice to not teach your children about them.

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However. I have put a cabinet lock on my cabinet that has the cleaning supplies – because an instant of disobedience there that I am unaware of could cause my children to become violently ill or even die. Similarly – our guns are stored unloaded and the ammunition is kept in a separate place. However we do have a loaded pistol in the bedroom. So – the kids are locked out of our bedroom unless we are in their with them because one moment of disobedience with a loaded gun could cause instant death or severe injury.

Mind you, Sugar isn’t even 2 yet and she already knows what guns are, already knows that they make a loud noise and already knows that she can only touch them if Mommy or Daddy help her. She is being raised exposed to guns, around guns, and is being taught about gun safety – but until she is old enough to truly understand how dangerous a gun can be and how to be safe with a gun she’ll be locked out of the room where the guns are. Just like she’s locked out of the cleaning supply cabinet.

After she gets older we’ll do like my brother and sister-in-law do. Their youngest is six and now they only lock the guns up when the kids have friends over – that way someone who isn’t as familiar with the power of a gun and how to be safe with a gun can’t get to any of the guns at their house.

OK – hope that makes sense… I’m a bit sleepy!

It does happen that there will be a child more curious and believe they can handle a gun without an adult present. They may pretend to hunt or do what they see on TV in the police shows.

What I am saying,watch your children to see if they might fall into the category of strong independent character. Those young ones might need to hear over and over the mantra – It is a Tool not a Toy.