Children and Home Defense Weapons

C

crwdz7

New member
Growing up I was taught by my father to respect the weapons in the house. To be truthful, I respected his firearms, but even more I feared what would happen if he found out I had been playing with them. I never dreamed of playing with his guns.

Fast forward about 20 years and now I have my first son. He is not quite 8 months and is very close to walking. He already crawls and pulls up on things (including my nightstand). He is now getting into things. At his age he obviously does not understand guns and there consequences. My wife did not grow up around guns and is beginning to get a little nervous about the pistol in my night stand (I must admit I agree that I need to do something differenct.) I am tempted to just move it out of the nightstand to a higher place where my son has absolutely no access, but that puts in in the closet. Has anyone ever used one of the fingerprint safes? I think a fingerprint safe would make more sense that a trigger lock or moving the pistol to the closet. Keep in mind that theft or loss in a fire is not the reason for this safe. I have a fireproof safe in the basement. How have you guys handled this situation? I must also add that my son cannot reach the top drawer of my nightstand where my pistol is located, but he will be able to before too long.
 
Just and idea (as I don't have kids yet)... What about putting it in the drawer in a retention holster? That would keep the gun safe in case the youngster pulls the nightstand over while keeping it at the ready for your purposes.
 
I would move it until he's old enough to understand the gun rule I grew up with, and passed on to my daughters....If you want to see my guns, ask me. Touch my guns without asking and I Spank your butt.

t/c223encore.
 
I never kept guns away from my kids, they were not where they could get them befor they learned to talk but they let me know they wanted to see them, out they came. Nothing will encourage a kid to do something faster than telling him "no" or hiding something from him.

So, take a look around the house and see what else the kid can get into if he's not being watched. You gonna put all that stuff in the top of the closet?
 
Originally Posted By: Don FischerI never kept guns away from my kids, they were not where they could get them befor they learned to talk but they let me know they wanted to see them, out they came. Nothing will encourage a kid to do something faster than telling him "no" or hiding something from him.

So, take a look around the house and see what else the kid can get into if he's not being watched. You gonna put all that stuff in the top of the closet?

+1

This is the same thing that I think.

I would add that I have struggled with the idea that if my children are to be safe from a gun related accident, then the weapon should be out of their reach until they can properly handle them.

However, my home cannot be safe if I have to run to the safe, unlock the safe, take off the trigger safety and load the gun to stop an intruder. So I internet shop for devices that aid in keeping my children safe and ensure that I can defend my home. So far, not much luck.
 
I dont want to sound harsh, but your son will understand gettin his arse whooped for doing what he is not supposed to do.

As far as your wife, she needs to understand who is actually in charge of the family. There can only be one leader, if its you, when it comes to firearms let there be zero tolerance, if its her, get a gun safe and hope like [beeep] you wont need to protect her one of these days.

Right now, at this moment, you have to make the decision on whether you want to be your sons friend or his father.

I have done things to correct my son that he does not understand, and probly wont until he has kids. I am OK with that, as in the end it is my DUTY to raise him to be a CONTRIBUTING member of society that understands the true meaning of respect.

My wife and I USED to go around about these things. Then she started to see that the kids dont listen to her at all, and are very obedient to me.

Raise your kids with a strict firm hand and they will thank you for it when they have enough sense to.
 
Originally Posted By: Don FischerI never kept guns away from my kids, they were not where they could get them befor they learned to talk but they let me know they wanted to see them, out they came. Nothing will encourage a kid to do something faster than telling him "no" or hiding something from him.

So, take a look around the house and see what else the kid can get into if he's not being watched. You gonna put all that stuff in the top of the closet?

I couldn't agree more.
I taught all 4 of my kids gun rules and safety at a very young age and they all enjoy shooting sports as much or more then I do.
Every person at our house knows where to find and what to use in case of a bad situation developing. Even my 11 year old boy knows what needs done to remain safe and secure.
I pity any moron that attempts anything at my house, it will not end well for them at all.
 
I agree with others here.

Keep them high enough for safety, but not out of reach in case of emergency. And teach, teach, teach.. Eliminating the curiosity is the best thing to do. When I pull a firearm out of the safe, I always have a show and tell moment with my kids.
Oh by the way, does anyone here not know what side of the faucet is the hot water?
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My kids have always been around guns and they don't get to excited about them. Early on they were very curious and we would spend alot of time touching them and talking about them. Seemed to cure their curiousity. They are 11 and 8 now. They know what they are for and don't touch them unless it is with me. They love to shoot and when they ask to go we go. They know the rules and that there is no tolerance for deviating from them when guns are involved. I am not sure there is any real procedure here other than teaching them to respect a firearm and what it is capable of.
 
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My oldest daughter now 8, will walk past a hsndgun as if it were a shoe on the floor. She doesnt think twice and could care less about them(they dont have a "wow" factor to her). My son who will be 1 in a few weeks still doesnt get it and the only extra precautions we take are to make sure that any loaded firearm in completely out of reach. I truly believe kids are only interested in things they cant have.

Something else for those of us who have responsible young one around the house is that maybe their friends that may come over are not as responsible. Special consideration should be given to this subject.
 
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At 8 months old, a child isn't going to understand a butt whoopin or gun safety. A little night stand safe is probably the best way to go. I used one when my kids were that age. Not a fingerprint safe though... I don't know if they had those years ago and I am even more sure I wouldn't have been able to afford one if they did.
 
To answer the OP question, I like the gun vault line of safes. They are cheap,effective and easy to mount just about anywhere.
 
i have thought about one of those picture frame safes above my bed looks like picture reach behind it and pistol is easily removed til my kids get a little older.
 
Problem with a safe are if you need it, it's probably too late in an emergency. My kids are 15 and 12 and they both hunt and when they see a gun their only interested if it hunting season other than that they walk on by. My kids have had hunter education courses and I still think some of the adults around my area could use those courses...lol. I use a safe too, but I always keep 2 weapons loaded with easy access only where I know and if my kids did find one they would not mess with it and they always handle all weapons as if loaded anyway. When they were young I just kept it out of reach but easy for me to get too. The finger print safes are pretty quick to get in thanks to biometrics.
 
Don't get caught butt whoopin kids.. It's not Politically correct and some social worker is gonna put you in jail..

Just kidding but its getting close to that bad.
 
This won't work for everyone, but it has always worked for me. I keep my pistol between the two mattresses of the bed, with the end of the handle barely sticking out so I can reach down and locate it quickly if necessary. As an added precaution, at least for younger children, I have the magazine loaded, but no round in the chamber. That way, if a young child happened to find it (unlikely), they still wouldn't be strong enough to chamber a round. My daughter is 10. She doesn't have a huge interest in guns, but likes to shoot sometimes. I don't worry about her messing with any of my guns, as she knows not to unless I'm with her.
 
My cousin just went through this same thing. This is what we did.

Got an old cash register drawer, rigged it up under his bed on the side he sleeps on. On the back of the headboard near the top (way to high for anyone under 5 but still easy to reach when you sit up when you hear the bump in the night) we mounted a doorbell button, that is hooked into the drawer, push the button, the drawer pops open and you lock and load.
 
I raised three kids in a household with a "non-gun" wife (she has come around after 30+ years). From the very beginning, the kids were taught that 1)they were to never touch any gun unless there was an adult with them (this changed as they were "older" and understood "home defense", yup they were told when they could shoot!) 2) If they wanted to "see" a gun, just ask. 3) they were to be very vigilant about their friends visits to the home. That is how I was raised. From very early we ran "training" (gun or ammo on the floor) with reward for getting it right. At about 18 months they always got it right. By six or so they were shooting a chipmunk .22. By the time my oldest was 10 or so she was able to understand that if someone was "bad and hurting" mommy or a brother or sister she was to protect mommy or her brother/sister (and she knew that meant to use the 10/22 till the bad guy was not moving!) Her brother and younger sister were taught the same thing at about the same age. Nothing ever happened, but I knew that when I was at work (Deputy Sheriff) my family was as safe as I could make them and they were quite capable of defending themselves if it came to be necessary. (yeah I know all about the bizarre "maybes" and I still feel that I would rather err on the side of being ready for the "normal" bad guy than be over dramatic about one of the "maybes".

While they were under two or so, I kept the "house gun" (same as now), a 20 ga. pump in the armoire behind a spring closure door (with a stong spring) and a handle at the top of the door (a kind of early kid-proof system). The nightstand drawer had a plastic kitchen cabinet door latch that was designed to keep kids out. They are all grown up (23-30 yrs of age) and will be raising their kids the same way.

Its not perfect, but few things are. It is, however, in my opinion, the best choice.
 
For myself, I had a key to the family gun cabinet from about 11 years old on, pretty much from the time I had a hunting license. One of the other posters brought up a valid point about other peoples kids which may come into your house at some point. I feel a small pistol safe such as the handprint type would be great. One thing to think about is if you ever had some kind of weapon related incident in your house, in many states, the home/gun owner is held responsible, so in addition to possibly a tragic circumstance, the PC correct lawmakers may hold you criminaly and civily responsible also. Just my thoughts, my self like many on here educated my two girls very early on, and bought them there own firearms which are stored in the family vault. I also destroyed somethings at very close range when they were young with a 12 gauge just to impress on them the devastating effects of a firearm. I believe access should be granted as trust is earned, a little at a time. I am currently a firearms instructor and teach firearms safety on a weekly basis. Hope my rambling helps.
 
Teaching children Gun Safety is a MUST especially when weapons are around the house. But some children are just plainly CURIOUS no matter what. Theres an old saying, "out of sight out of mind" and "if you can't get to it, it's useless." I have one of our (soon to be 4 years old) grandsons living with us. For now, I have a clothes/jacket hanger sitting in the corner of my bedroom just a few feet away from my bed. Hanging from one of the tops arms(approx four ft off the ground)is a pistol pouch that holds my Beretta .40 Cal Semi Auto that has a firing pin block mechanism that a child cannot throw to make the weapon fireable. Neither the weapon nor the pouch can be seen as they are covered by a light fleech hooded jacket. I can get to the weapon if needed and remove it without any hassle. I check them regularly to make sure the carrier and jacket are secure and unmoved. Regardless of where you put any weapon, there has to some safety mechanism that prevents children being able to firing the weapon. I've found semi-auto's with the firing pin block fit the bill very well. It even keeps adults who know little about guns from shooting one. Revolvers or cocked single action handguns on the other hand, don't require much more knowledge than simply pulling the trigger. The call is your's but the answer should be obvious. Keep the little fella safe and enjoy him as he grows.
 
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