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Do your kids know you carry?

3K views 50 replies 50 participants last post by  Tmag 
#1 ·
I have always tried to keep my children from knowing that I am carrying and I was wondering if anyone else does this? I guess this is mostly a question for those that have kids young enough to cause trouble with what they say and not old enough to know better, my 4 year old being my example of this.

I keep it from him not out of any 'shame' of gun ownership but solely from the perspective that I can easily see him bringing up 'daddy's gun' at some very inappropriate time and creating unnecessary, potential situations.

Anyone else do this, and if so how long have you have you been successful at it?
 
#4 ·
Yes, my children know I carry. I'm not sure the youngest understands (1month) what that is, though. ;)

See my other post for my experience with it.

IMHO, it does my kids better to know about it, so it seems normal, than to hide it, as it would make it seem wrong, and show them that hiding things like that is OK. Brutal honesty is my policy.
 
#6 ·
I like your post, and that is one of the reasons I have elected not to let my youngest two know about it. I have never tried to hide the fact that we have guns in the house (all of which are in a gun safe) and I have talked to my 4 year old about the difference between toy guns his older brother has and daddy's guns. Obviously at his age I don't expect much so I wouldn't actually expect him to be able to keep his mouth shut, which is why I have chosen to keep this from him at this time since, like you, I don't really want him to bring it up in front of the wrong person.

For the record, I do plan to bring up my boys like I was raised, having a healthy respect for all firearms and their safe usage. Once they are old enough I plan to make sure both of them have all the range time they want, assuming they enjoy it the way I did.
 
#5 ·
...I can easily see him bringing up 'daddy's gun' at some very inappropriate time and creating unnecessary, potential situations.
Perfectly reasonable. Kids have a way of blurting out info at the worst possible time because they're too young to know better. It's also hard to teach a child to keep a secret AND get them to understand that you aren't doing something wrong or "naughty." Secrets and naughtiness are a package deal in a kid's world.

My step-daughter knows, but she was a teenager when I started carrying so there wasn't much of an issue for me.
 
#7 ·
Mine are both in college. Mine probably didn't know until I had been carrying (every day) for a few months or maybe half a year. I've been carrying every day for about five years now. It's a big relief when you can do things openly in your home so it's a huge peace of mind when you "come out of the closet".
 
#8 ·
I took up handgunning after my kids were teenagers, but I'm pretty sure I would have kept this from them when they were smaller; partially because they were inquisitive and irresponsible and so I would be afraid for their safety (even with everything normally locked in a safe), and partially because most of the families we were associated with would not take kindly to a gun-loving parent and my kids had a tendency to blab without thinking then say "oops, sorry" -- so I couldn't count on them to keep it in the family.

Nowdays they think it's cool and are thoughtful about which friends they tell.
 
#9 ·
Yes.

I have not made it a secret at all over either of their lifespans.
My kids are now 6 and 3.

In fact yesterday I hosted a MA State Police at my home to run an advanced skills builder training course in my backyard toward an upcoming annual qual that he is due for. Dry fire only no ammunition nor loaded guns involved or even within our work area.
I'd setup a full scenario based course including five imitation humans/targets as well as a barrier.

My kids observed for a few minutes from my second floor patio and then moved on to go play inside...nothing strange here just daddy with another guy walking around and talking. Know this was the first time I've hosted such an event at my home so it's not like my kids see me do that regularly. They are just used to seeing and knowing that on any given day dad might do something interesting and by that they do not think twice about it. My anti-gun wife on the other hand her eyes nearly bugged out of her head at first. But she knew up front I'd had as much scheduled and planned.

BTW student and I both were fully kitted up wearing guns and magazines in holsters and he in his full duty belt rig. He later noted to me that his own children (5 yr. olds) are not aware of as much toward him and that he has not yet let them see a firearm muchless himself whilst carrying.

I'm a believer in real world training, and as such I apply this to myself and torward my children too.
In the real world my kids da-da and other people carry and possess firearms.

- Janq
 
#10 ·
My son (6yo) knows, but my daughter who is 4 usually doesn't. She would be the one to blurt it out in a store or something like that so for now I try to avoid letting her see me put it on before leaving the house. As far as my son goes I just told him that part of the law for me being allowed to carry it is that it has to be a secret. He understands that.
 
#12 ·
My Daughter knows, I have to unholster it and place in the center console now when I drive on to school property (which is better than before--school was NGZ), so she sees it and we have discussed it a lot, and she knows to keep it a secret.
 
#14 ·
My kids are 12-11.. It isn't possible to keep it from them if I wanted.. One time with them in the car and having to disarm for there school,.. (now they know)... BUT!!!... I teach them talking about it isn't right and will not be tolerated.... As was wrote, not as shame (most guys we know carry too) but as people out there are strange and can react oddly to it,.. When a child is brought up around guns, they don't think nothing about it.. They learn the rules and life goes on,.. :)

Now I have one friend out of all that tryed to hide it from his kids,.... He ended up getting busted (by his youngest) and now his youngest knows too..
 
#15 ·
My 5 yo son knows I carry. My daughter carries too (she's 25).

It's been this way for a while, a lot of times he doesn't see it but it isn't a big deal if he does.
 
#18 ·
Kids know, of course...they're both in their 30's.
Grandkids don't know, not yet, one is 5 and the other is 2.5...it's never come up, and my weapon has never been spotted...yet (they live a distance away).
 
#19 ·
Not only do my two daughters know I carry, but they also carry. (Both in their 30's) So do their husbands.

My four grand children also know I carry.

A few years ago, one of my grand daughters told me that her daddy's gun is bigger than my gun. (She was five years old then.)
 
#20 ·
Both of my kids know. 15 and 7 year olds. The oldest thinks nothing of it ... at that age they are too self absorbed to think of anything other than themselves. The 7 year old knows it is a "secret" and has done quite a good job of keeping it such. Just today when I picked him up from summer camp he came up to me when I was in the middle of a pack of people doing pickups and grabbed me around the waist to give me a hug. In doing so he inadvertantly put his hand directly over my hip with the IWB holstered pistol and upon realizing what he had done very discreatly looked up at me and smiled with the "look". Not a word said. I was quite proud.
 
#21 ·
17-year-old daughter knows, but I understand this isn't the same as very young kids knowing.

I can relate to those who wouldn't want kids' friends knowing because it could lead to no playmates in short order.

Daughter still needs to keep it quiet because the same thing could happen even with her older friends. Lots of sheep parents here in St. Louis.
 
#23 ·
You bet! The day I bought my gun, I had my son at the range, qualifying on small-bore rifle with 2 NRA instructors. A little less than a month later, I bought him his own .22 pistol. He's 10, and mature enough to understand WHY mom carries, but also the importance of 2A, and why we keep firearms in the home. He also understand the need for tact and discretion, who we can "talk shop" with, and why it's important not to tell all of his little buddies, and panic folks.

I think the best way to keep your kids safe is to educate. This goes doubly for firearms, and the laws and reasoning behind WHY we own/carry them.
 
#24 ·
My two adult children know I carry.

My five grandchildren (ages 5 to 13) do not.

They all know grandpa has guns in his safe, though.
 
#27 ·
My kids are 17, 15, 12 and 9. They've always known because it's been there longer than they have. It doesn't come up often with their friends but, when it does, they have short answers they give and leave it at that. My 12 year old had a friend ask her why I had a gun on not long ago. Her answer was "Because he loves us too much not to." :smile:
 
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