Concealed Carry with kids

My wife and I have a five year old son that we are debating telling him that I carry. I have been able to hide it from him over the last month, but I am not sure if we should just tell him. What I am afraid of is that he will go to school and tell people his daddy carries a gun and next thing you know I will have a call from the school. For those of you with kids still at home....do they know you carry?

I would guess it depends on the maturity of the kid. Mine has known since she was 8 years old. She also understands that she is not to discuss my guns or CCW with anyone. This keeps the soccer moms (literally) at peace.

-Paul

yup they know, and have since they were 4. Once, the little one (2 YO) tried to lift up my shirt but oh well....
Tell them not to tell their friends, but if they do oh well. Who cares if the school calls you? I'd tell them to mind their own business, and go (ahem) themselves.

My kids are so used to seeing guns, and seeing me with guns, they don't even think twice. They think it's totally normal to see me strap on a gun before we walk out the door. Point is, why would they tell their friends when in their minds, it's 100% normal? They don't tell their friends I wear shoes or a belt right? Gun is the same way...(for my kids anyways)

I've explained to my kids (9 & 5), as a part of our household gun safety program, that because many people aren't comfortable about guns, and don't know anything about them, that we don't need to talk about our guns with people outside the house.

I've also told them that if "bad people" knew there were guns in the house, they might break in to steal them when we're not home.

So they have been taught that for our good and the good of others, talking about guns outside the family is not a good thing. And if they have a specific reason or person they wish to talk to about our guns, they need to ask me first. So far it has worked well.

I take it this is your oldest or only child.

Having raised two to adulthood , I can safely assure you that the long
term odds of keeping secrets from your children are about the same
as winning the Lottery .........twice...............in the same day :biggrin:

Teach them how to respect YOU AND your guns.

I have two kids left at home- 6 and 11. They both know I carry and see me walking around with it on and don’t even notice anymore. They’ve been instructed not to “tell” and so far have not as far as I know. I know my six year old is very good at keeping “secrets”.

I’ve had my daughter once pull my shirt up to see if I was carrying in public. She was told that that is not something she should do again and has not.

I worry more about the 11 year old telling but if she does then so be it. Nothing I can do about it.

Just handle the gun properly and do not hide it from him and he will think it is normal and not think about it.
My grand kids and their Dad and Uncle did not make an issue of guns in the house since no secret is made about the guns

I'm in the same boat with Hobbes...with my two boys (9, 4)...I've had the talk with the 9yr old--that it is no one else's business that we own firearms....and the 4 yr old, we just tell him we don't talk about guns. They're used to seeing me armed.

When they were young, there were always guns around. They were allowed to handle and shoot them...with me...was never a problem...the school never called...wait a minute...I was the school supt... Nope! ...never called myself!

ret:urla9ub:

The worse thing you can do is hide it from your kids. It's the same as educating your children from birth about guns. If you hide them until you "think" they're old enough, they will satisfy their own curiousity about them. Same as carrying. What if you're at Walmart and you accidently expose your firearm and it's the first time your kid is seeing a gun strapped to Daddy's side? That is neither the time nor the place to have to have that conversation.

I have a granddaughter that will be 4 in a couple months. Both her parents have carried for a year now, and myself and my husband for 3 years now (my 2 sons still at home were 13 and 11 when we started carrying). I had her in a store restroom with me last week. I laid my gun on the shelf while I ...., She starts to say 'Grandma why do you.....,?" I told her we don't talk about that outside the home. She immediately shut up and did not finish her sentence. It was very cool. So you see...,at 3 years old, they are wise enough to understand.

I would just casually start letting your son hear conversations about it now, instead of making a big deal over it. He should have know about it when you were taking the training or when you went to get your license, but too late for that now.

Hmmmmm.....this is an interesting thread.

I've got dozens of guns, and my kids know about them.

But they do not know that I carry (I think the oldest one does, he's 16, and his mom off-handedly mentioned it to him; he's mature and bright enough not to share that fact and he may even have forgotten- he's never asked or talked about it).

But I couldn't imagine telling the others, at least not yet. They could too easily talk at an inopportune time or place.

OTOH, this might just mean I need to re-evaluate the assumptions underlying my decision not to tell them, and, possibly, my relationship with the kiddies.

I mean, what motivates my fear of one of them squawking at a bad time or place or to the wrong person?

Do I not want to have to explain myself to a stranger? Or to a non-gun friend/acquaintance? Is that because I don't know what to say?

Who knows....

Maybe the shadow knows.........

My dad is a LEO and I was always around guns in the house....
Neither my two brothers or I ever thought twice about having firearms in the house....
I knew what they were capable of and I also respected my dad's authority and judgement enough to leave them alone.....
I was trained how to use them at an early age and knew what they were for....


My kids have been reared in the same manner and respect all firearms as well.....

My 9 year old, and my 5 year old nephew see me handling my guns almost every weekend, so they are over the thrill and excitement phase. I make sure to take them to any outdoor range practice sessions. Guns are now boring to both of them! GREAT!

They both know the 4 children's rules of firearms safety, and I quiz them regularly to make sure they remember and understand them.

It's now NO big deal to either. Do I worry about them telling??? Nope How many people are going to confront me about it? Not very many I can bet. If they do, it will be handled according to the way I am approached.

BG knowing?? They don't associate with many people other than close friends, and family. We have NO other children in our neighborhood currently, so no one around here will know.

Randy, interesting indeed. How old are your children?

I guess I feel that being open with the kids and having "those" discussions at home, will prevent "those" conversations when you're out and about. It's second nature around our house that Mom's going away, Mom grabs her gun and puts it on her hip. It's no different than grabbing my car keys and cell phone. I never ever gave it a 2nd thought when I was getting licensed to even think of hiding it from my kids, because, this is the way it is going to be.

Since I've become a gun rights activist and lobbyist over the past couple years, and gotten known around the state, if my kids tell someone...so what? I will look at it as yet another oppurtunity to educate someone about the joy and rights of owning guns! :argue:

This has turned out to be a very good thread. I trust my son, but I know how it was to be a kid..."My Daddy's bigger than yours" "Oh yeah, well mine carries a gun to the store" I trust my son, but he is young. What I don't want is him to be afraid for when he does see it (and he WILL see it). He knows I have guns, in fact he knows where the are (locked up and secured), but he knows to never touch them. He has associated them with danger so I think it may be better to let him know about it when I can explain it to him so when he sees it he won't be shocked. You all have given me plenty to discuss with my wife. Thanks again, I always know I can find great personal experience and advice on this forum!