Kid's access to firearms

[shadowalker]

*UPDATE* If you choose access control what kind of access control do you use?

Recently I have been thinking about kid's access to firearms. Our society's belief is that kids should not have ready access to firearms and until a certain age I tend to agree. There is a gray line for me once firearm safety is taught and they develop proficiency.

I grew up in Alaska and Montana and we always had at least one loaded firearm in our house, it was never in a safe. As we got older my mom trained us how to use it and expected us to use it to defend our family if she couldn't get to it or was disabled. She also told us that if someone was trying to take us to make a shot because she was going to take one regardless.

There have been several incidents where access to firearms have saved a kid's life, for example the young girl in Montana who shot two BGs that broke into her house while she was home alone.

Recently my nephew was home alone and someone broke into the house (armed with a knife) while he was there. He was in the garage and in the process of making entry into the main living area when the kid's father made it home. The kid did an excellent job and responded pretty well but he would have been a sitting duck.

My step son is 14 now and routinely goes shooting with me. While I am not sure if I am comfortable with him having unlimited access to our firearms it would be nice for him to have emergency access.

I was thinking it would be nice if electronic gun safes came with an feature that would allow someone to open the safe in an emergency. The system could also flash an LED or activate another alert system that makes it apparent the emergency code was used.

How many people make firearms available to their kids? Do you use any access control or the honor system?

 

[Solo Flyer]

How many people make firearms available to their kids?

This was never an issue until recently.
I grew up in a diner owned by my parents in Ft.Pierce,FL,in the early 1950's.
A S&W Model 10 .38 Special was always under the counter.
Sometimes I slept in a special hideaway under the counter when my mom worked alone inches away from the gun.At age 6 she knew I would never touch the firearm.
We were fortunate.Nothing ever resulted in her having to pull up the S&W.
She died at age 92 leaving the gun to me.
I still look at it once in a while ,realizing the enormous responsible she put into having that gun to defend her family and business.
A different world, a better time.

 

[Bartkowski]

Access control until they have shown maturity and responsibility. At that point, I have no problem with a "child", or young adult having complete access to firearms.

 

[BridgeWalker]

It depends. On the kid, on the kid's friends, on the community/neighborhood/culture.

 

[matrem]

Had many of those same thoughts raising my daughter.I strongly believe that there is no "magic" age.We,as parents have to judge each aspect of individual kids,and if we err make it on the caution side.
I know a nine year old that I would trust,and several teens( even some "adults") that I wouldn't.

 

[Walkalong]

My older child is out of the house. I gave him the Winchester 94 I always said I would.

The younger one is still here, but he has not shot enough yet to prove to me I can leave one out that he has access to. They are all locked up when I am away.

If he spent more time with me shooting, he would probably have access to one. He is very responsible for an almost 17 year old, and a dang fine shot.

 

[bnkrazy]

I grew up in a house with a gun behind every door. There were no issues because I knew that they were not to be touched without supervision. We also lived 45 minutes out of the city and hardly had any company that didn't live the same way. When friends came over, we played outside for the most part anyway.

Times are different now. I live 5 minutes from 25 different restaurants. I keep a firearm loaded and on my person or within arms reach at home.

My 5 year old daughter shows maturity well beyond her years, and she has asked to see my firearms several times before. She knows the 4 rules and follows them. She also knows she can't touch a firearm unless me or her mother are present and give her permission. We've tested her several times on this and it seems to have stuck, however I will not leave a firearm unattended around here for now. She has friends coming and going and our house has much more traffic in general than mine did growing up.

In time, she will know where the 'emergency gun' is hidden and how to access it. When that time comes is entirely up to her.

 

[shadowalker]

I grew up the same way, grandma and grandpa had a rifle behind every door. Police response time was around 30 minutes, we knew we were on our own. We also knew if we touched them without needing to use them for defense hell on earth would be the result.

I carry 80 hours a week including at home, my wife and I both have bed side gun vaults. He is able to strip and clean my handguns and AR-10.

I had a conversation with him today and asked him what he thought he should have access and what he thought was reasonable. He thought he should have controlled access, especially if home alone.

 

[3KillerBs]

The littlest one is far to young to have any access to a firearm.

The middle boy is only allowed access to his Crickett at the range and when cleaning it.

The teens have controlled access to various guns with the almost-17yo having nearly full access.

 

[Molon Labe]

We have 3 children: 10, 9, and 5 years old.

For the last 10 years, I have had guns scattered all over our house. None have trigger locks. None are locked up. All are unloaded.

They never touch them. Not because I have told them, "Don't touch!" They just know it's not somthing to touch.

They ignore the guns. The guns are part of the background.

 

[twofourthree73]

I had unlimited access to my dad's .22 when I was 9 and had my own shotgun at 11. I lived on a rural farm and I'd come home from school and hit the trees to shoot some sparrows for the cats. My son is 3 1/2 now and all my guns are locked up in a safe. When he's a bit older I plan on taking him out to the range, but I doubt I'll give him unlimited access like I had as we live in the city.

 

[Nolo]

If by "access control" you mean that they shoot when I want them to shoot, then yes. Because there truly is no such thing as "no access".
I will go no further than as to say this is one of the few things I know from experience.
If you own them, you cannot keep them out of your children's hands. Thus, you must settle for teaching the next generation how to shoot. Obviously, you do not want to just tell them the four rules and them have it be a free-for-all, but they should be able to have full access to at least a weapon and ammunition by the time they are 13.
JMHO.

 

[lions]

My daughter is only 2 so currently no access. But as she matures I intend to reevaluate as necessary and move her to limited access and eventually to full access. Like someone else said, no magic age. Just make decisions as they grow and mature.

 

[dalepres]

I grew up in Alaska and Montana and we always had at least one loaded firearm in our house, it was never in a safe. As we got older my mom trained us how to use it and expected us to use it to defend our family if she couldn't get to it or was disabled. She also told us that if someone was trying to take us to make a shot because she was going to take one regardless.

For the most part, what your mother did and taught you was successful, right? That is a good indicator of what would be successful again.

The big difference, though, is that you and your mother didn't have to deal with the strongly violent nature of TV news, movies, video games, etc. Your children will have a lot stronger influences from outside the home than you did as a child. So measure your own relationship with your children carefully and, if that relationship is one of trust and respect, do just what your mother did.

 

[bogie]

We've got a nine-year-old who is thus far failing to show the responsibility. Maybe when he realizes that (a) life is not a video game or cartoon; and (b) realizes that it's up to him to grow the responsibility - that it is not just given to him - then he'll get another chance.

 

[DaveBeal]

I have three kids. The youngest will be 15 in a couple weeks. Both of my sons go shooting with me. All of my guns are locked up. Most are behind two locks (handguns with trigger locks inside a strongbox). None of the guns are stored loaded, and all of the ammo, except for some .22LR, is behind a third lock.

 

[Solo Flyer]

I have three kids. The youngest will be 15 in a couple weeks. Both of my sons go shooting with me. All of my guns are locked up. Most are behind two locks (handguns with trigger locks inside a strongbox). None of the guns are stored loaded, and all of the ammo, except for some .22LR, is behind a third lock.

And what does this tell us, DaveBeal?

 

[jad0110]

My son is only about 21 months now, so the guns just stay locked up (some loaded, some not) unless I'm actually packing. He's at that age where he is phyically able to fire a weapon (I assume), but not old enough to understand the concequences of his actions.

Once he is older, they will still remain locked up but he will be granted "controlled access", if he asks. By that I mean, assuming he has been behaving himself, I'll show him whatever gun he wants to take the "mystery" out of it. Turn it into a safety training session while I'm at it. BTW, he is going to learn gun safety first on a water pistol .

One day, many years in the future, if he shows that he is mature enough and can be trusted, I may get a dedicated quick access safe for him and teach him the combination. When will that be? I'll just have to wait and see.

 

[Juna]

The big difference, though, is that you and your mother didn't have to deal with the strongly violent nature of TV news, movies, video games, etc. Your children will have a lot stronger influences from outside the home than you did as a child.

That is my concern. This is a really tough issue. I have a little time before I need to decide, but I don't think there's an easy answer. It has to be based on responsibility level, etc. However, you have to be cognizant of who else has access (i.e. your kid's friends, potentially).

I don't live in a rural area where others give their kids access to guns, which also is a factor. So if my kid has access and tells his friends, then they'll be pressuring him to see the guns, etc. He/she would have to show tremendous responsibility, and that will be a while. I think kids in general are less responsible today b/c there's a lack of discipline and respect for elders. If you spank your kids in public, people call child protective services. It's insane. That said, I believe in stricter discipline than "time outs" for serious, potentially dangerous offenses (e.g. toddler running into the street, trying to pull out the gas line, etc.).

I think if you raise your kids in a way that makes guns a normal part of life (rather than the taboo, horrible, murderous, evil objects that "just go off", etc.), raise them with stern discipline (not just "time outs"), and command respect from them from a young age, then it will be easier. My thoughts are to teach responsibility, gun safety, etc., and set boundaries, but don't make them too taboo or that will increase their desire to mess around with them. I will show them to my kids and teach them safety, trying to remove the mystery and "social taboo" nature of guns.

I do have a really hard time with this one, b/c I would want my kids to be able to access them in an emergency if we weren't home to protect them. But then today there's so much attention-seeking BS on youtube, etc. that it makes you wonder whether a kid might get depressed after breaking up with his girlfriend and do something stupid. Gets back to responsibility, stability, trust, respect, discipline, self-discipline, and how well you know your own kid(s), I guess.

Extremely tough issue. I'll probably struggle with this one for a long time. In the meantime, I'll keep using love, respect, and strict discipline in raising them and hope for the best. I'll know when they're ready, I suspect. I'll take them shooting with me and they'll grow from there. Their access will then depend on them and how they respond.

 

[Wheeler44]

My earliest memories are gun related. We (the kids) knew that Mom kept a loaded .38 under her mattress. I was given my Grandfathers .44-40 revolver when I was 8 yrs. old. I got ammo for it (to keep) when I was 12 or 13. I got a .303 for Christmas when I was 13, it came with ammo and a reloader. I bought a .22 that same year with money I earned cutting firewood.

I am raising my son in a similar manner. He is 16 now.

 

[dmazur]

I'm sure this varies from state to state, but I believe you may not legally be permitted to let a minor child have unsupervised access to firearms, no matter how mature you think he/she is.

I remember the Montana incident where a youngster was able to fend off a bad guy. If this had "gone wrong", i.e. she shot an innocent person, I don't think the parents would be looking at a happy future.

I would consult an attorney and/or your insurance carrier before making decisions that could mean financial ruin.

(I know this is a tough call, as nothing is more important to us than our kids...)

 

[DaveBeal]

I have three kids. The youngest will be 15 in a couple weeks. Both of my sons go shooting with me. All of my guns are locked up. Most are behind two locks (handguns with trigger locks inside a strongbox). None of the guns are stored loaded, and all of the ammo, except for some .22LR, is behind a third lock.

And what does this tell us, DaveBeal?

That I'm cautious? I don't understand the question.

 

[dalepres]

I remember the Montana incident where a youngster was able to fend off a bad guy. If this had "gone wrong", i.e. she shot an innocent person, I don't think the parents would be looking at a happy future.

Had the child not had access to a firearm to fend off the badguy, I don't think the parents would be looking at a happy future, either.

Parents should train their kids. Train them in survival skills such as how to hunt, how to skin a rabbit or squirrel, how to find shelter outdoors, how to use basic tools, how to avoid trouble when they can and how to come out on top when they can't.

Teaching children about guns and their proper use and the risks of improper use is just part of responsible parenting. Teaching children about how to hook up the Wii to the TV is not.

I agree that kids who spend their lives playing computer games shouldn't have access to guns. I just think there should be no kids who spend their lives playing computer games without the other experiences that teach children self-reliance and responsibility.

 

[everallm]

No hard and fast answers, I know 10 year olds I would trust with anything they can physically lift and 21 year olds I wouldn't trust with a slingshot.

Teach 'em, explain the concerns and make the call based on character and ability.

 

[wyosasquatch]

My son is only 7 months old right now. I would say I am not going to allow him access to firearms right now. In the future, I intend to give him controlled access. The one problem I have with him having unlimited access (as I did when I was growing up) is his future friends. When I was a kid, many of my friends were from families that had guns and would know how to handle them. Some of my friends had no idea how to handle guns and it was made very clear to me that when they were around, I could not handle the guns.

With more and more people being unfamiliar with firearms these days, and the way that firearms are portrayed on TV and the movies, I will most likely not trust other kids around our guns.

I hope that my ramblings make some sense.