What do you say if a little child asks about your gun?

[Harryball]

Little ones are smarter than we give them credit for. Tell them the truth, that should take care of it.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[MinistrMalic]

Be honest and give age-appropriate answers. You don't have to quote rape statistics to a 4 year-old, but telling them that it is a tool in case a bad guy wants to hurt you or me or someone else, to help us be safe, usually suffices.

[ace587]

True, kids nowadays are very smart. I'll just be honest to them. the more you make it a mystery, the more curious they'll become.

[borglyn]

Sophie is 4 and we just tell her the truth and not to advertise we have guns. She comes to the range with me once a week. Not to shoot but she loves to pick up brass! We pay .01 per case. Can get pricey when we bring the 22 rifle!

[kimbercarry1]

Yep! Tell em like it is. I agree with most of the replys on here. My dad carried, four out of six of my siblings carry, and three of my children carry with never an incident. one occasion of a BG trying to inject himself into my comfort zone resulted in a presentation which aused an immediate change in his venue.

Training, proper handling, and the responsibility that goes along with carrying should be part of raising a child rather than them finding out later when they find themselves in a situation without the means to defend themselves or their families.

Smaller children just accept the fact that that's "Pop's gun". At seven or eight the question comes "why do I have a gun?", the answer is about taking care of me and mine against the bad people in the world. So in my world, carrying is the norm.

[Andriss]

As far as the clothing, I would say I wear _______ because I like it. Why? Because I do, I'm cold natured.

That doesn't always work if they don't like what you are wearing.

H asked me what I was wearing and I explained that it's a vest. Well, L took an interest and apparently they decided they did not like this thing on Auntie. I explained to them that I liked it and I wanted to wear it, but they weren't satisfied with my answer. Their baby brother was having a fit so L told me that maybe he's crying because he doesn't like my vest. Needless to say, I haven't worn it around them again and I carefully decide what to wear when I am watching them.

". . . because Dora's isn't real and I am.The world is full of real Swipers, and I'm here to protect you from them."

I don't think I have the heart to ruin their favorite cartoon characters, but all of the advice I've read has been really helpful! I really do like the idea of relating it to something they are familiar with though. One of the girls likes to draw "mean guys" so maybe I'll use that reference instead. Something like "It's a tool I use if a real mean guy tries to hurt us".

[jonconsiglio]

First, trying to keep a child from bumping into your gun can make it more obvious, so don't worry about that. If the feel it, so what. Tell them it's a phone, etc. My children probably think ts normal as that's what they are growing up with, and I teach them what I can about it.

The key is to not make a big deal of it. Other than that, I'm on the same page as ret. My daughter is 6 and I recently took her to the range. Shell be getting a rifle for Christmas.

[INccwchris]

If a kid throws a temper tantrum because they don't like what I'm wearing, they can get over it. My take is they need to learn that this is an adults world, and their just living in it. Also explain that theres bad people living in the adult world who want to hurt kids and adults, and that my gun can stop them. Be honest, be straight, don't sugarcoat it.

[remington79]

Maybe I'll chang e things when she gets older my my 2.5 year old will see me wearing my pistol and ask me what it is. I tell her it's a tool. She then asks Daddy's tool? I say yes, it's Daddy's tool. She's too young to keep secrets right now.

[CUMMINS]

My girls know I carry and they know why. I told them that there are a lot of mean people out there and daddy wants them to be safe

[357and40]

Speaking as a parent and an Uncle...

It is the right of the parents as to how to approach it regardless of how smart or stupid their approach may be.

My 3 and a half year old helps me tray up bulk ammo and has handled every one of my firearms except for the antique. He asks questions & I answer and educate to the best of my ability. I wish more parents would take the taboo out of handguns with their children by educating them & letting them handle (with guidance) any time they ask.

If a parent wants to shelter their kid, it is their right & not my right to impinge on their rights. Granted, in my opinion it is foolish to shelter your kids from something they may well encounter when we are not with them that could be incredibly dangerous, but that is not my right to educate their children without their consent.

If their parents know you carry you might want to ask for their take on it. If the parents do not know you carry then you may end up with an awkward discussion. You may wish to be super diligent about how you carry around the kids. A smart-carry may be the best bet around them if you can not discuss the subject with them.

If their parents allow you to have frank discussion with the kids I would suggest a frank & honest discussion. As has been pointed out a few times already, kids are smarter than we give them credit for... Put it in terms they can understand. See if the parents and kids all want to go out plinking cans or targets one day... might be a good ice-breaker..

[adric22]

Well, my daughter knows why I carry and if you asked her I bet she could give you a pretty good answer. She knows mommy and daddy both carry guns to protect our family from bad guys.

[Justified]

I told my girls that there are bad people out there (I have told them this many times before) and daddy needs to be able to protect them and himself from these bad people because you never know who is going to be bad or where they will be. I also explained that you never know who will turn out to be a bad person so we don't tell anybody about the gun. Then a showed her how to hold my marlin .22. Then she asked me for the code to the safe. I explained she is too young for that.

[10thmtn]

With two young kids (7 and 2 years old) climbing, jumping, grabbing and otherwise just plain all over me, I've found that pocket carry works really well.

If you have school-age kids, you will be around the parents of their school friends. I'd just as soon not have to explain the bulge on my hip to them, or to their children when they join my kids in climbing all over me.

I've taught my son the basic safety rules, and he has seen mom and dad shoot, but I'd rather not tempt fate with "kids saying the darndest things" at the worst possible time.

With two pocket pistols, I feel very well protected - and no one is the wiser. I like being the grey man.

[Thanis]

Rely to OP.

My wife and I are neither blessed nor cursed with children. As a rule of thumb, I share almost any thought I want with a niece or nephew say over the age of 12. This includes questions concerning firearms. I believe making firearms into a bad thing or a mystery is a bad thing, so when asked, I would speak to them as I would any other adult (with some limitations based on maturity level).

It gets tricker when they are younger, and even more so when no from the fun loving uncle is never that serious of a concern. This happend with a niece of mine who was 5. I was pocket carrying, and she was grabbing for my cell phone to play with it. She ended up sticking her hand in my pocket when I was not paying close enough attention. This resulted in a child loudly yelling in a department store that uncle has a gun (she comes from a pro-gun home with plenty of gun talk, but the subtleties of not sharing with the world that uncle CCs is difficult). Now at the time, not only was I CCing, so was her mother, father, and my wife.

Lucky me to be the guy that gets caught by his niece.

My tone turned (and shocked my niece) asI let her know to stop. Seconds later I worried that it might create the wrong impression for concerning firearms. I nicely wispered I was armed for her and my safety, as were many adults, but that we did not yell this because we did not want the bad guys to know.

All appeared to be well enough until we returned home. Her parents received an earful on the way home on how uncle was stupid not to show the BGs that he had a gun because it would scare the bad guys. It was an impressive line of reasoning.

Again, luck me for being the one who is caught.

Honestly, I was lucky it was the parents who were pro-firearms and not those who are not in the family. It is a difficult topic, but no matter what mistakes are made, I believe the biggest mistake is making firearms a mystery and not stressing they are for addults.

I respect one of my wife's brothers (pro-gun hunter who CCs and owns many pistols). He banned toy pistols. He does allow super soakers, toy ray guns, toy plastic machine guns, toy rifle muskets, working red rider BB gun, etc. However anything like a revolver or modern pistol is banned, because he wants no confusion pistols are for adults.

I'm not saying I agree, as there are flaws in the logic, but then again, almost every plan has + & -, and I respect that he is doing what he thinks is best. I think the same goes for aunts and uncles, just do your best.