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A responsible parent is one who teaches their children firearms safety.
It's an attitude of some parents that worries me. I'm talking about parents who don't bother to teach their children anything about the dangers of firearms or how to handle them safely. Not teaching your kids about guns could be dangerous - what happens if they are around one at a friend's house or some other place? I knew what to do - my family taught me about firearms safety from a very young age. Sadly not all children learn the same message.
So you think parents must go out and buy a gun if they don't want a gun, just to teach their children gun safety?
"WESTFIELD, Mass. — An 8-year-old boy died after accidentally shooting himself in the head while firing an Uzi submachine gun under adult supervision at a gun fair. The boy lost control of the weapon while firing it Sunday at the Machine Gun Shoot and Firearms Expo at the Westfield Sportsman’s Club, police Lt. Lawrence Vallierpratte said.
Police said the boy, Christopher Bizilj of Ashford, Conn., was with a certified instructor and called the death a “self-inflicted accidental shooting.”"
So you think parents must go out and buy a gun if they don't want a gun, just to teach their children gun safety?
I think all parents should, at the least, talk to their kids about gun safety. Of course doing this could pose a problem to parents who know nothing about gun safety themselves. If the person doesn't know anything about guns, well, there are plenty of places that offer gun safety classes.
I see nothing wrong in principle with a parent purchasing a modified, small-caliber rifle for the purpose of introducing a 5-year-old to shooting, but really, how could any idiot rationalize allowing such a young child to physically possess a firearm whilst indoors and apparently unsupervised, even if it was sincerely believed that the firearm couldn't possibly have been loaded?
Apparently we can't legislate how people raise their kids. But they can be held accountable for their actions if thing go wrong.
I believe they should be charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Leaving a rifle propped in a corner is just beyond the pale of carelessness. Might as well leave a big bowl of gasoline and pack of matches on the floor
I remember a few things but I can't claim that this is what I was taught at 2-4 and I still remember that training very clearly. Kids of 5 cannot grasp real consequences of having a gun. The other examples you and others are giving - they do something important in your life. I understand in your particular case as your father had health problems he relied a lot on you and things were different. if that was not the case, can you explain or tell us a few benefits of having a gun or getting trained so early in the age?
i will try to explain the situation to you Alpha1976. I am now 66. I grew up on a family farm/ranch. you can do the Math to figure out the time period. When I was four my Dad was having problems with what turned out to be an infected kidney. When you live on a farm or ranch there are chores that MUST be done everyday. My Dad needed my help just to get the necessary chores done. One of the dangers we faced daily on our farm were rabid animals, usually skunks. Snakes were also present and predators that were always trying to eat the chickens, small pigs and calves that we depended on for our food and income. My Dad was taught firearms safety by his Father at a very early age also (Grandpa was a WW1 combat veteran). When you are making a living on a farm/ranch operation you do most of your work outside. Many farm kids know how to handle basic hand tools and some power tools by age five. A gun was just another tool to me at age four.
There are a lot of things on a farm that can kill or severely injure you. My Dad saved me from losing ALL of my fingers one day when I was about age four or five. The year Dad had his kidney surgery he had to hire a man to drive the tractor because the bouncing up and down on a rough tractor was too painful for him. The hired man had been using a sickle bar mower to mow some weeds around the corral. He had had to replace a damaged sickle bar. Google a sickle bar mower and maybe you can see what it is. A sickle bar is razor sharp and the bar with the serrated knife blades runs through rows of teeth to gather weeds into the blade. The common safety practice when working on sickle bars is to put a bolt with a locking nut on it that prevents the sickle bar from sliding when not in use. Pick up a sickle bar that does not have the safety bolt in place and you could lose ALL of your fingers. That is what ALMOST happened to me because the hired hand screwed up. Luckily Dad noticed it and yelled at me before I could pick it up and get hurt.
There are hundreds of farmers and ranchers killed in farm accidents every year. many of these accidents involve children. There are significantly MORE children killed on the farm every year by accidents that are not gun related. Farming is one of the most dangerous professions.
The lessons learned on a farm by four year old kids are way different than the things a four year old city kid has to learn. i.e. how long does it take for a four year old kid to dart out into traffic? How many four year old city kids know how to unlatch the gate or door in the house that lets them cross the street? Those are dangers that city kids are taught about at three or four years old. Rural kids where guns are present are taught gun safety at early ages. Do gun accidents still happen? Yes. Do city kids wander out into the street and get killed by a car/truck? Yes.
Parents of kids that grow up in a city would be considered negligent if they did not teach their kids the danger of walking in the street. Parents of kids in homes where firearms are present are negligent if they don't teach those kids gun safety.
Gun Safety for children is what the Eddie Eagle program from the NRA teaches kids. If you find a gun Don't touch it, leave the area and tell an adult.
Not that many families own guns anymore but there is still a chance that a kid could come across one on the street, at a friends house.
The NRA Eddie Eagle rules could also be applied to a open bottle of pills, a bottle of alcohol and all kinds of stuff that kids shouldn't be messing with.
"WESTFIELD, Mass. — An 8-year-old boy died after accidentally shooting himself in the head while firing an Uzi submachine gun under adult supervision at a gun fair. The boy lost control of the weapon while firing it Sunday at the Machine Gun Shoot and Firearms Expo at the Westfield Sportsman’s Club, police Lt. Lawrence Vallierpratte said.
Police said the boy, Christopher Bizilj of Ashford, Conn., was with a certified instructor and called the death a “self-inflicted accidental shooting.”"
So, once again, a negligent adult gets off scott-free. The supervising adult has no liability whatsoerver. Whose bright idea was it, anyway, to put a submachine gun into a small child's hands?
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