MMABC

At some point, after forty years of living in Houston and Houston suburbs, for some reason all the bad crime news started getting to me. There's been an awful lot of it lately. I got it in my head that I wanted a pistol. I bought one, and I'm taking a CHL class tomorrow.

I've also been reading about the laws, gun rights, the Heller case and what not. BTW I have another thread, same topic, in the legal section.

I've handled lots of rifles and shotguns for hunting over the years, and I've never had any apprehension about that. They've always been unloaded at home with ammo kept well out of the way. Only if I seriously think about self defense at home that's really defeating the purpose.

So, what do you all do to secure guns from children while keeping them available for immediate use for self-defense? I have ten year old twin girls and a 16 year old boy. I've trained them on safety, and I intend on continuing to re-enforce that. I have a shotgun and a 1911 .45 I'd like to have available for self defense. What advice do you folks have to offer?

SubNine

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Paco

Keep the pistol on you at all times, when legally possible. When you lay down to go to sleep put it in the SecureVault SubNine pointed out. Then when you get your CHL you can carry the pistol even more places you go, not just the car and home.

I keep my shottie int he master closet, that will be my last stand area since the way in is in a manner that I can pick off an intruder when they enter my master bath.

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"Don't hit at all if you can help it; don't hit a man if you can possibly avoid it; but if you do hit him, put him to sleep." - Theodore Roosevelt

If you are not willing to stand behind our Troops, feel free to stand in front of them!

-Paco

Bark'n

Don't have kids at home anymore, so not a big issue. But do have a 6 year old granddaughter. When she is at the house, guns that are not in the safe, such as my nightly defense weapons and swat team "go-bag" get locked in bedroom closet.

Then my SD pistol is worn on my person.

Btw... as soon as she turns 8 I will be sending her to APT Firearms Academy to enroll her in some of their "Next Generation" classes for kids ages 8-14.

They have a children's rappelling course, wilderness skills course, small bore junior rifle, and small bore junior pistol classes and children's handgun fundamentals course for kids in that age group. She's already excited and looking forward to some of that.

All classes are one day with the exception of the wilderness skills class which includes and overnight and all are in the $100-$125 range.

An investment I am happy to foot the bill for so my granddaughter can learn some "life skills" at an early age.

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-Bark'n
Semper Fi

"The gun is the great equalizer... For it is the gun, that allows the meek to repel the monsters; Whom are bigger, stronger and without conscience, will prey on those of us who without one, would surely perish."

MMABC

Can I say this out loud, in public? I think that I can and have safely trained my almost 11-16 year old children to be around and handle guns. That means they understand and expect that all guns are loaded, know how to handle them, and know when not to. This was how I was brought up, around guns, in my home and the homes of my friends and family. I don't feel the need to lock them up and defeat the purpose of having them in the first place.

I also don't force my kids to wear bike helmets. I have a trampoline with no safety nets, and eeeh gads, I have a swimming pool! God knows how often they've done those things without adult supervision! I don't secure my household chemicals. I also drive them around in a car, in Houston. I feel down right criminal. All this national campaign for gun rights and opposition specifically to legislation on gun safes and trigger locks, am I alone in my tendencies toward criminal negligence?

JonInNY

+1 on the gun vault. If it's not with you, it should be safely locked. Avoid the problem before it happens!

Stay safe.

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"I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul."
-- William Ernest Henley: Invictus

NKMG19

It's funny how just teaching your kids about safety from they are young and not shielding them from everything in life puts them way ahead of their peers and builds self confidence.

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retsupt99

I would find a place safe from view, but my kids (when they were your kids' ages) knew where they were...never touched. (They tell me that they never did touch them...in their 30's now.)
I took them shooting, and they had both respect and fear of my directions in the use of weapons.

I think your kids (you know them) are old enough to be trusted.
If we have younger kids around, one weapon is always on me, the rest are in one of two safes.

Stay armed...gun-proof the kids...stay safe!

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"That I cannot do."

"Give this to, uh, Clemenza. I want reliable people, people who aren't going to be carried away. After all we're not murderers in spite of what this undertaker thinks."


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KSJustice

+1 on the GunVault and educating your kids to take away the mystery of firearms. That's my method as well.

Kerbouchard

When I was growing up, I had a gun rack hanging above my headboard from the time I was around 10, not to mention the other guns around the house. The only lock we had around was the one on the front door and it was hardly ever locked.

People live in different worlds. For some kids, a gun being in the house would result in an insatiable curiosity that would cause him to try to get to it no matter what the parents tried to do. And some kids have easy access to firearms and can be trusted not to do stupid things.

The difference is in how the kids were brought up. A rural kid who has been shooting since he was 4 is much less likely to do something stupid than an urban kid whose parents have never let them touch their gun.

From the tone of your post, it doesn't sound like you are looking for concrete ways to prevent your kids access to firearms, but are looking for confirmation that you are not the only one who believes those concrete ways are not necessary...Well, you're not the only one.

But, as much as I don't think there should be a law against child access, I absolutely believe there should be consequences for if a child does access a firearm and injures themselves or others.

It's kind of like owning a Corvette. You shouldn't get a ticket every time you drive it because you have the potential to speed, but if you do end up speeding then you deserve the ticket.

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