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Packing in a "kids" environment?

3K views 30 replies 30 participants last post by  austin 
#1 ·
Do you ever second guess whether or not you should carry if you are going somewhere that will be loaded with kids?
Rarely do I leave the house without a sidearm.
But I have found myself pausing to evaluate if I should carry when going to a zoo, museum, a party, or anyplace else that I know will be crawling with youngsters.
I usually choose in favor of carrying regardless.
However, July 4th I took my wife and 2.5yr old son to the Palm Bch Zoo and, knowing I would be running around in the sprinkler area with my boy and not wanting to leave it in the car, I left my gun home.
Just curious if kids effect your carry decision in any way.
 
#3 ·
Carry in kids' environment

Depends on the environment!
I take my younglings' safety very seriously.
I also recognize that, if I am running through the sprinkler with a shrieking, laughing seven year old, and we are both wearing swim trunks and little else besides a delighted expression, it becomes somewhat difficult to conceal a 1911.
A kids' party where I remain fully clothed, yes definitely, as long as it did not violate the various thou-shalt-not laws that seem to abound!
Otherwise, common sense prevails.
 
#4 ·
Kids really do affect my decissin to carry or not to carry.
My Carry Criteria is 24-7 as long as it is legal.
Kids affect thay by making it double important. They are victimized just like adults & cannot defend themselves.
Since I am 58 & too old to swim, run, etc, some of those things do not figure in the equasion for me. I have made adjustments in some other areas though.
The world we live in today is such that we need to be armed if it means changing some plans.
There have been large family gatherings at places like you stated where there would be "designated armed." At my age I was always, Mom, & wife. Son & Son in law would trade out. One in the water & one out.
Park play. Always armed & watching. The Grandkids are big enough to play all they want to.
 
#5 ·
No, my kids are a big part of why I carry. If I cannot protect them to the best of my ability, I am not being a good dad.
 
#6 ·
The only thing it would change for me is WHAT i carry. I bought my PT-145 for this reason and will be getting something even smaller. I love my Kimber and carryit every chance I get. BUT its a nice gun and I wouldnt run it through a sprinkler. My PT is a tool. It only cost me $300. If something happens to it....OH WELL...it is easily relpaced, unlike my Kimber.
As said above...Its more of a reason to carry and the kids NEED you ability to protect them because they are unable to fend for themselves
 
#7 ·
Kids

The only kid I regularly carry around is my neice. She's 5 and practices Eddie Eagle with me, knows not to touch the lockbox I keep at my house (for storing my bedside gun when she visits) unless I'm there, and knows not to discuss guns outside the family. I'd rather clean and oil a wet gun than risk not being able to protect her any day.
 
#8 ·
doesn't affect my decision to carry, no. but, there are different things to keep in mind when carrying around them. kids don't have the same ideas of "personal space" as adults do. for instance, they are more likely to run up to you and pull on your shirt to get your attention. the ones that know you can also jump on you and grab you, etc. ya just have to keep that situational awareness down at a lower height.
 
#15 ·
It was a cooler day in Georgia the other day and I was sitting on the playground watching my three year son old play with a P228 IWB and a Kel Tec P3AT in my weakside pocket wondering if I was the only one carrying there. I also wondered if the soccer moms would flip out if one of them "made" me, which does concern me a great deal any time I am in that environment.

I always carry in kids environments though. What I carry though depends on what I am wearing. If it is really hot and I'm in a t-shirt and shorts then I am only carrying the Kel-Tec because I consider that to be a deep concealment situation. If it isn't so hot then I can wear a short sleeve button down and conceal the P228 or my M65 along with the P3AT.



+1, My son likes to try to pull up my shirt in the most public of places. I don't think he understands what he is doing but it is something that you need to be sure that you are aware of so you don't get made.
 
#9 ·
"It's for the children"

Exactly - they are easy victims and poorly equipend to protect themselves. They expect the adults in their lives to look out for them, and rightly so.
 
#10 ·
Do you ever second guess whether or not you should carry if you are going somewhere that will be loaded with kids?
The question really is: Would I be willing to eliminate my primary method of protection because others will have children at the event/function/home?

Not on your life. Certainly not on mine. It's simply not worth others' sensibilities. They'll get over it. If attacked and defenseless, I might well not. Beyond that, if anything the fact that children are present is a greater reason to carry, be well-trained, have the "radar" turned on, etc. It's hard to think of a better reason, thinking long-term.
 
#11 ·
The question really is: Would I be willing to eliminate my primary method of protection because others will have children at the event/function/home?

Not on your life.
+1

Kids may affect how you store firearms (locked up or on your person if there are little ones around) but they should never lead you to give up your primary means of self-defense. Quite the opposite, really. The fact that kids around should be further impetus to be ready to defend innocent life.
 
#17 ·
My daughter and I returned just a few minutes ago from a childrens event at a local publicly accessible privately owned local tourism facility.
I was carrying in condition 1 a 1911 on my hip and had a spare mag on my opposite hip.

I had thoughts as per my usual as the area I'm in is extremely liberal.
The funny thing was as we walked to this facility a mom there began talking to me about the area and how it's relatively much safer than living in the city (she's from here but currently resides in LA). My response to her as I was unbeknownst to her carrying was; "My position as based on observation of life and my own direct experiences is that anything can happen anywhere to anyone on any given day". She nodded in agreement.

When ever I begin feeling this way or rethinking things toward carrying with my own child or around those of my neighbors I'll simply recall the many dads, moms, pets, and children too who fall victim to random crime at places where children convene and play...

2 dead, 3 injured in park shooting
Attack ends violent Memorial Day weekend in city
By LINDA SPICE, DAN BENSON and BOB PURVIS
jsmetro@journalsentinel.com
Posted: May 29, 2006

Two people were killed and three others injured when a man opened fire on picnickers in a crowded Bay View park Monday evening, capping off what police called one of Milwaukee's most violent Memorial Day weekends in recent memory.

Witnesses described the frantic scene that caused the hundreds of panicked Memorial Day picnickers at South Shore Park to grab their children and flee in terror as shots echoed.

"All the parents were scared for their kids; they grabbed them and were running away," said Jesus Romero, who had been there since 1 p.m. eating with his family. Romero heard a succession of popping sounds that he initially mistook for fireworks.

He said there were about 50 children on the playground when the shooting occurred.

Peter Quinones was sitting under a tree on a hill nearby, and he heard at least six shots but said the gunfire didn't catch his attention until the second or third shot.


Police officers talk to people Monday evening after a shooting at South Shore Park. Police did not offer an estimate of how many people were in the park.

Quinones said he turned to see a man wearing a white shirt and armed with a handgun methodically circling the tables where a group of about 10 people had been seated.

"At point-blank range, he was shooting," Quinones said. "We stayed for about five or six shots, and we got out of there."

Quinones said the man looked determined to cause damage.

Quinones said, "He was so concentrated on that table, it looked like he wanted to wipe out that whole group of people."

Quinones' brother-in-law Eduardo Perez saw one of the shooting victims fall down only to have the assailant fire at him again as he lay on the ground.

"He shot the guy when he was down. He wanted to make sure he was dead. This is wrong," Perez said.

Anne E. Schwartz, Milwaukee Police Department spokeswoman, confirmed what witnesses described.

About 7:30 p.m. atop a hill overlooking the marina at South Shore Park, 2900 South Shore Drive, the man fired multiple gunshots at the group, Schwartz said.

The dead are a 17-year-old boy and 31-year-old man. Two others, a woman, 23, and a man, 34, were in surgery Monday night and were listed in critical condition.

A 21-year-old man was also shot in the leg, Schwartz said. She declined to release the victims' identities.

Ruben Santos said he came down to the lakefront with his family to celebrate his niece's birthday. When he heard shots, he said, he frantically gathered his family and fled the park.

"This is a massacre here. It is a massacre," Santos said.

Schwartz did not estimate how many people were in the park but said there were still many people there when the shooting occurred.

"It was a chaotic scene. There was a big crowd here when it happened," said Schwartz.

But police were looking for a person late Monday and had a description of a vehicle, Schwartz said. She declined to release any of that information, but said it appears the assailant knew his victims.

"We have a good idea who we're looking for, so the people in this neighborhood can rest easy," Schwartz said.

Johanna Chavez lives nearby and said she brings her 1-year-old son to the park at least three times a week. She was shaken by the shooting.

Chavez was not there at the time of the shooting but joined about 100 people who crowded the police tape around the scene after she heard sirens from her nearby home.

"It surprises me. I'm not going to come here anymore," Chavez said.
A weekend of violence

Monday's shooting raised the number of weekend shootings to 28, Schwartz said, four of them fatal.

Details were available about some of the shootings.

The weekend got off to a bloody start when two men, one 22 and the other 18, each were shot in the leg Friday evening after arguing with a stranger outside a tavern in the 3800 block of N. 15th St.

About 11:20 p.m. Friday, a 38-year-old man was shot in the thigh as he was talking to a woman while seated in a vehicle in the 3100 block of W. St. Paul Ave. Police say the woman's ex-boyfriend walked up and fired shots into the vehicle.

A 22-year-old man was fatally shot in the head about 12:15 a.m. Saturday on the street in the 2600 block of N. Sherman Blvd., police said.

A 28-year-old man died early Saturday from a gunshot wound to the chest after a shooting outside La Careta Vieja tavern at 1339 W. Greenfield Ave. Three others were injured in that shooting

Saturday night, three people were critically wounded in three separate shootings.

Neighborhood activist Ester Hodges, 48, was shot in the stomach about 9 p.m. in the 4300 block of W. Garfield Ave. after using a gun in a confrontation with other people. Investigators are still unsure if she was shot with her own weapon.

At 9:05 p.m., a 25-year-old man who had been shot in the back was found in a car at N. 20th and W. State streets, police said. By 9:15 p.m., police were responding to the 2700 block of N. 18th St., where a 22-year-old man was shot in the shoulder.

About 12:10 a.m. Sunday, shots were fired outside a home in the 4900 block of N. 60th St., wounding three men and a woman, all of whom are 19.

At 2 a.m. Sunday, a 26-year-old man was shot in the hip in the 2300 block of W. Lloyd St.

Early Monday, a 20-year-old Milwaukee man was shot on N. 11th St.

The victim was wounded twice in the upper torso at 1:41 a.m. Monday outside a residence in the 3100 block of N. 11th St. He was in critical condition at Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital in Wauwatosa.

Police were seeking a assailant described as another 20-year-old man.
Victims' families arrive at park

Late Monday, as the crowd of onlookers began to disperse from South Shore Park, a woman arrived at the police line. Her cries became louder. Her body wrenched as if near collapse as a man with her wrapped his arms around her arms and chest. He held her back as she attempted to cross under the police crime tape.

"Please, I want my son! I want my son!" she cried in Spanish as detectives took her under the tape and toward a toddler playground. There, she sat later on a bench, her cries filling the park.

Soon, more family members arrived and crossed under the crime tape toward the scene, where the two dead men lay under coverings.

The story can be found at; http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=429290
I'm sure the visitors to this park this particular day thought and figured to themselves that it's just a park and nothign ever has happened thereebfore. besides they are just out with the kids amongst a bunch of other parents out with their own children.
Imagine being that guy only to have some fool(s) run up on you or worst your family only to on the spot know you could have done something more than pray or scream "NOOOO!", if only you had decided to carry.

I know for sure the people I was with, the mom I was talking to, and most every other person on site today at this childrens event would have flipped out had they known I was carrying even as I'm doing so 100% legally and have zero history of anything other than some marginal speeding tickets.
At the same time I know if worst were to come to absolute worst that those same people would be hoping & depending on Superman if not the cops to fly in if they happened to find themselves in a similar situation as the folks in MN had. While I myself would be doing what ever it is I need to do to keep me and mine alive & well as we escape to safety aided by 17 rds. of .45 inch minimum diameter hole punching capability.
I'm not a tough guy but I am a very mortal dad guy who wishes to and will if cornered fight to stay alive.

- Janq carries most everywhere, even on what my daughter refers to as 'Daddy Play Day'
 
#19 ·
First rule in a gun fight " have a gun" always practice the rules of Gunsight, teach your children about firearms, take them shooting so they know first hand what a firearm will do, hunting is even better. Teach their friends, with parents consent. When you least expect it bad things happen and can happen anywhere, be prepeared.
 
#23 ·
My gun won't go off in it's holster...I carry everywhere legal and practical (i.e. if going to the beach/pool--may secure in the vehicle or decide not to swim at all and carry).

Park, soccer fields, Chuck E Cheese, movies--you bet I carry.
 
#24 ·
Until the bad guys start making well publicized appointments to do bad things, I will carry 24/7.

Next time you are trying to decide, look around at all the little kids faces and picture a bad guy doing bad things in the next few seconds and ask yourself: "could I live with knowing that I could have saved that child's life if only I was carrying?"

To me, its a no brainer! Like the anti's like to say, "its for the children".
 
#25 ·
At Sea World my Kimber gets locked in the locker in the swimming area but out side that area it is IWB.

At Schlitterbahn I leave it in the car.

Everywhere else It is IWB.

If I know liquor is involved it stays home and if I have it liquor is not involved.
 
#26 ·
Nope. In fact if I am going to be somewhere with lots of kids, it makes me want to carry more because there are crazy people who want to abduct and harm kids. Their sick desires center on kids.

So, I always carry some place where there are kids. Just in case.
 
#27 ·
Week before last was our VBS at church. I was a group leader and most of the week I had my M&P 40 IWB and my Kel-tec P3AT Left pocket. There is one day of an exception here, I had the Kel-tec all day and did not get home to grab the M&P.

I was the door guard, I released the kids out and many times there were what I counted as shady characters walking down the street. My hand was on my Kel-tec and if needed the 40 would have been deployed just as fast as the Kel-Tec.

I carry, but it effects how and what I carry. It may up the amount or lower it depending on circumstances.
 
#28 ·
I carry everywhere, especially where there are little ones, unless it is prohibited by law.

If the kiddies are going to be hugging and grabbing you a lot, wear a SmartCarry or something that allows you to carry where they shouldn't be hugging and grabbing...
 
#29 ·
I have a couple of carry purses. One has a lock for the zipper of my weapon's compartment. When around anyone...kids or not....my purse is always under my control. If that is not possible...it is locked in the trunk of the car, which is very seldom. My grand daughter has been taught not to touch it and to go and get a adult if she sees any weapon....just as I was as a child. Carrying around kids shouldn't be a problem, as long as you are aware.
 
#30 ·
I've got 3 grade schoolers and a passle of nephews, nieces and great nephews and nieces. Usually several neighbor kids around too. I adjust my weapon choice to the event. I prefer my wheel guns, but if lots of kids are around I'll carry an auto loader or 2 with an empty chamber. The Israels' use to teach draw and rack carry". With a little practice for this type of carry (I use dummy rounds) your ready to shoot PDQ. luteai (a kel-tec p-32 in thunderwear will survive a day at the water park if stripped and oiled within an hour!)
 
#31 ·
When in shorts, I carry a Kimber Ultra Carry II .45 (1911) in my front right pocket along with 2 spare magazines in the left rear. I wear Royal Robbins shorts because they have very deep front pockets. I can very easily grip the pistol with my right hand in these pockets and half the time I have my hand in my pocket on my pistol.

I wear these shorts to the gym or to the pool. I wear my swim trunks under the shorts and either lock the shorts in the locker or have another CHL adult watch them when I swim.

I have been to birthday parties at private homes as well as public places with dozens of kids as well as babysat. No problems yet.
 
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