How to give minors access to guns

[adric22]

I was watching a news story yesterday about an 11 year old girl who was home alone and defended her home from 3 burglars with a .22 rifle that belonged to her mom. You may have seen the story in the news.

While the news seemed to slant the story in favor of the young girl, which I tend to agree with, no mention was made about the fact that an 11 year old girl had access to a firearm without adult supervision.

This is something I've posted about before and it is a bit of a conundrum. Because on one hand if you leave your children alone at home with a gun in the safe they are defenseless. On the other hand, if they end up playing with the gun while you are away then you are in deep trouble with the law. Heck, even if they don't play with it and somebody finds out they simply have access, you could be in trouble.

However, I thought of an interesting idea I would run by you guys and see what you think. Keep in mind this is another one of those hypothetical things.

I was thinking if some manufacturer could create a gun safe that would allow a child access to a gun but under certain conditions. For example, there would be an emergency button that would immediately open the safe but once pressed, something would happen that would alert the parents that it had been pressed. It could be anything:

• Sounding an alarm
• Sending the parents a text-message
• Calling 911
• Or simply leaving some kind of permament sign that the safe had been opened.

The idea being that the child would be held responsible because they would know that there is no way to access the gun without the parents finding out about it. But on the same token, when they are home alone and hear a window break, they could have access to it. Does this sound like an acceptable situation to allow a minor limited access to a firearm?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Thunder71]

Home Invasion gun fight - YouTube

[adric22]

Home Invasion gun fight - YouTube

Yeah.. saw that a while back.. but this would just be for kids, not adults!

[Thunder71]

So less restrictions for kids... gotcha. :)

This is a lose/lose situation. Nothing you mention for solutions is anything I'd be OK with... and quite honestly, there isn't a good solution. You can't hold an 11 year old responsible for opening a safe.

Limited or full access are one in the same... once they have it, it's YOUR responsibility.

[apvbguy]

In Fla giving access to a weapon to an unsupervised minor is a crime

[kelcarry]

Some forum members live a very different life than me. Guns were never part, in any way shape or form, part of my upbringing and I grew up in the urban environment of NYC, hardly the center of 2A activity and/or the wild west and real live wild animals (other than the human kind but that is not what I mean). IMHO---kids and guns do not mix--period/end of story. Having said that I am not going to pass judgement on others in their very different living environment than mine. Still I think the idea being presented in this thread just does not have a ring of a successful possibility.

[SFury]

I grew up with guns. I was given free access to them at around the age of 11 myself. That's when I began to shoot my Father's .22s. He worked for years before that with me on gun safety. I was not going to play with firearms. I knew they were not toys.

I also knew not to play with my Father's power tools. They were far more dangerous than the guns. If you need to do some serious woodworking, the shop in the basement at my Father's house has almost all concievable tools to get the job done. Screwing around with them could cause way uglier wounds, and have some pretty nasty consequences if you didn't respect those tools.

Teach kids to respect guns, and allow them access at the right age (it varies child to child so no set rule on age exists) then all will be well.

The most difficult thing is having the friends of a child coming over. Groups of kids do stupid things, and you probably don't know the other kids well enough to have access to the firearms at any time without direct and firm supervision.

[hogdaddy]

kelcarry,
I grew up as you stated , A whole different outlook on guns in Fl Late 60's early 70's
As far as the OP, I myself don't have to worry about that situation, As my daughter is of age ; )
H/D

[limatunes]

My parents didn't even get a safe until I left for college. I had full access to all firearms from the time I was born.

As a matter of fact I was about 10 years old when my dad called all four of us kids into the living room, showed us a .357 revolver, that it was loaded and put it in a cupboard next to the back door. He then said, "If anyone you don't know tries to force their way into the house, shoot first and ask questions later."

There was a shotgun behind his bedroom door, loaded. A 9mm Hi-Power in the closet (loaded and low enough for me to reach). And SKS leaned up next to my brother's dresser and he had a loaded 1911 under his bed.

That's just the house I grew up in and there was no confusion about what guns were for and when you could touch/use them and there were no accidents.

Now, as an adult and a parent myself I do kind of think my parents were a bit irresponsible but I have no doubt whatsoever that if one of us showed ourselves to be more irresponsible they would have made sure to secure the firearms more properly. It wasn't an issue in our house, however.

We have a safe (two in fact) and our child will not know the combination until he's proven himself responsible. If his responsibility becomes a question the combination will change and he will again be restricted until he proves himself trustworthy once again.

Most kids who know about guns, however, don't seem to have many accidents on their own.. it seems to happen more when the friends are over and they try show and tell.

[MattInFla]

I was watching a news story yesterday about an 11 year old girl who was home alone and defended her home from 3 burglars with a .22 rifle that belonged to her mom. You may have seen the story in the news.

While the news seemed to slant the story in favor of the young girl, which I tend to agree with, no mention was made about the fact that an 11 year old girl had access to a firearm without adult supervision.

This is something I've posted about before and it is a bit of a conundrum. Because on one hand if you leave your children alone at home with a gun in the safe they are defenseless. On the other hand, if they end up playing with the gun while you are away then you are in deep trouble with the law. Heck, even if they don't play with it and somebody finds out they simply have access, you could be in trouble.

However, I thought of an interesting idea I would run by you guys and see what you think. Keep in mind this is another one of those hypothetical things.

I was thinking if some manufacturer could create a gun safe that would allow a child access to a gun but under certain conditions. For example, there would be an emergency button that would immediately open the safe but once pressed, something would happen that would alert the parents that it had been pressed. It could be anything:

• Sounding an alarm
• Sending the parents a text-message
• Calling 911
• Or simply leaving some kind of permament sign that the safe had been opened.

The idea being that the child would be held responsible because they would know that there is no way to access the gun without the parents finding out about it. But on the same token, when they are home alone and hear a window break, they could have access to it. Does this sound like an acceptable situation to allow a minor limited access to a firearm?

That would be a criminal offense in Florida.

It also kind of defeats the purpose of having a gun safe if anyone can open it with a button press...

[archer51]

Since granting her access to a gun may not be an option for you. Purchase her a canister of pepper spray and teach her how to use it. while not the best option, at least she would not be without a means to protect herself.

[jumpwing]

Once upon a time parents were responsible for determining the age at which their children could be trusted to safely handle a firearm. Thank God government and the law took over that part of parenting because if anyone knows how to properly raise a child it would be the State.

[apvbguy]

maybe the answer is that an 11 year old may not be ready to be left alone, why is she being left alone?

[rubicon1000]

I'm on my second marriage. I have two older kids with my ex and three young ones now. My first two learned gun safety early and are responsible young adults now, 18 and 21. They both own guns of their own but my three now are totally different so all guns stay in the safe. It's funny how different they are. I don't know that I'll ever trust these guy's as much but I still want them to know about guns... Nobody ever said parenting ws easy but I do believe it's our total responsibility to keep them safe. Thanks for starting this thread I'm really interested what others think. Dan

[tubadude]

I was shooting by the time I was eight. I had my own 22 by the time I was eleven, and I had unrestricted access to it by the time I was thirteen. It was the same way with everyone on my mom's side of the family.