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Boston.com 'asking about guns in a playmate's home"

... 40% of American homes with children in them have guns. While many of them are kept behind lock and key, there is no way of knowing how many of them are not.

A shocking statistic, isn't it? So why do we think it's rude to ask the question: Are there guns in your home?.
Click to expand...

I am shocked. Only 40%? WTF is wrong with this country?
 
They should have a Q&A along the lines of

"Before I send my children to play at a friends house, I need a way to politely ask 'are you f*cking idiots?', because I don't want them to play at f*cking idiots houses."
 
Or "how do I politely ask if they have...":
  • A swimming pool
  • An aggressive pet
  • Household cleaning supplies
  • Kitchen knives
  • A mold problem
  • Loose stair runners
  • ...

I suggest a government approved "my kid's house is safe" checklist that must be filled out prior to allowing your kid to have friends. The local COP can review it, and at his discretion he can grant your kid a "license to friend". Proper restrictions would include "none", "outdoor play", or "birthday parties and religious events".
 
economist said:
I am shocked. Only 40%? WTF is wrong with this country?
Click to expand...

Me too. Not all that long ago this phrase was uttered:

"You cannot invade the mainland United States.
There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass."

- Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto
(Japanese Navy)

And just look at us now [sad2]
 
economist said:
Or "how do I politely ask if they have...":
  • A swimming pool
  • An aggressive pet
  • Household cleaning supplies
  • Kitchen knives
  • A mold problem
  • Loose stair runners
  • ...
Click to expand...

Exactly.

I'm not going to raise kids who don't know firearms safety, and statistically there's a lot more death from household fires and drownings.
 
Sorry if all you lazy, liberal, irresponsible, parents won't teach your child gun safety. But if mine was in a neighbors home, my kid has been taught not touch the gun, and if they see someone else who is not an adult handling the gun safely, to leave. That is all, folks.

But, since your too damned stupid to realize that the kind of neighbors that are irresponsible enough to leave guns that are unlocked and of easy access to children, are the kind of monocellular piss brains that aren't going to fess up and tell you if they have firearms in the house that are easy for children to get their hands on, you can go on living in your pretty, pink, never never land of liberal lunacy. And at the end of the day, your little moonbat jr still isn't any safer. Unexcusable Morons.
 
I would welcome the question, "Before I bring my children over, are there any guns in your home?"

It's a time saver for me. If they don't like my answer, I immediately know that these are not the kind of people either I or my children want to know.
 
I'm a mom and my kids have friends over fairly often. I don't have any guns yet, working on the license still. I'm debating about what to do with this problem. I don't plan on telling anyone I have a handgun (when I get it) but I have the strong feeling that if I did, none of my kids' friends would be allowed to come to this house, period. I'd be treated like a leper and a dangerous nutcase around the school. I'm pretty sure when I went to the school some would be staring at me the whole time, wondering if I was carrying while I was at the school. Now it's one thing to say that they aren't people I want to know or want my kids to know but I am not so sure there's any other sort around here.

On the one hand, I wonder if I should tell them upfront, because I'm pretty sure they'd want to know that kind of thing and would immediately take their child away from the influence of the dangerous nutcase, or if I don't say anything and they find out later (as they are sure to do, it's a small town) then they might be even more outraged and frightened and feel even more threatened that I never said anything.

It's one thing to say these are idiot moonbat morons (which they are) and they can do as they please (somewhere else) but it's another thing when they are your neighbors, your kids' freinds' parents, and your town is FULL of them.

Just some thoughts, hope it's not too much off topic.

Somebody please write something very witty and very snarky in the comments on that article!!!
 
I just posted this.

In your article from 2000, you didn't once suggest that the concerned parent should teach THEIR child about gun safety. The NRA runs an apolitical program called eddie the eagle that every child should take in school or through some other means including taught by the parent. It has been proven to work.

In addition, this quote from the article is incorrect.
"What you want to hear," he said, "is that guns are locked and stored separately from ammunition [as state law requires] and that children don't know where the key is kept."

The law is that the firearm must be locked up and that ammunition must be stored in a container, but they can be locked together and guns can be stored loaded in say a safe. The only time this is not the case is when transporting on a plane as per TSA rules, ammunition needs to go in a separate case. It is not entirely clear what this serves, but that is the TSA regulation. MA state law has some other esoteric transport rules but so long as the firearm is not loaded, it can be transported in the same case as ammunition.

Lastly, this quote:
If a family says they do have guns, parents have two choices, said Gross: politely decline the playdate ("I'm sorry, but this makes me nervous.") or ask about safety precautions.
...from your article is troubling at best and speaks to why some people who are asked about guns become evasive. It may not be that they are any less responsible than those who offer up the info freely. The evasive ones may be concerned that knowledge of their ownership of guns will have adverse effect in their community including their house being blacklisted for kids parties or that they will lose friends over the knowledge, as I have in the past. Or that people will not solicit their business as has happened to me in the past.
Gun ownership has become a scarlet letter for those living in states like MA, NY and CA. There is a reason you did not know your neighbors were gun owners in Wellesley. That reason is that almost always no good comes of that knowledge. The best advice you can give is to have that person ask about the storage and safety precautions. You should encourage that person to investigate the statistics that seem to purport that gun ownership is so deadly, yet those statistics are dominated by suicides. Accidental firearms deaths are so rare you have a better chance of dying walking into a hospital. But to say that they should feel free to take their kid and go home is wrong and why people who own guns are evasive when asked about them.
We would rather shed our scarlet letter but for now, we shall hide it in the political environment the likes of which MA has.
Click to expand...

ETA: Which apparently is in a queue. Lets see if it gets published.
 
Last edited:
Lilorfnannie said:
On the one hand, I wonder if I should tell them upfront, because I'm pretty sure they'd want to know that kind of thing...
Click to expand...

How about just putting an NRA sticker on your car or leaving a copy of America's 1st Freedom, American Rifleman or Guns & Ammo lying around and let them do the math? [wink]

I've had several people find out that way and they've been pretty cool with it.
 
Frankly, I am not comfortable with my kids spending time in the homes of liberal fascists either...

More dangerous than my guns by a long shot...

My preban AR mags only hold 30 rounds, whereas the liberal fascists have killed millions at the ballot box...

Forget asking about guns, swimming pools, knives, etc... I want to know how they voted in the last election?[laugh]

Seriously though, the younger your kids are, the more you need to trust the people they are with... Lack of common sense has a larger kill radius than any gun...

Eventually, your kids are old enough to know stupid when they see it and give it a wide berth...
 
Lilorfnannie said:
I'm a mom and my kids have friends over fairly often. I don't have any guns yet, working on the license still. I'm debating about what to do with this problem. I don't plan on telling anyone I have a handgun (when I get it) but I have the strong feeling that if I did, none of my kids' friends would be allowed to come to this house, period. I'd be treated like a leper and a dangerous nutcase around the school. I'm pretty sure when I went to the school some would be staring at me the whole time, wondering if I was carrying while I was at the school. Now it's one thing to say that they aren't people I want to know or want my kids to know but I am not so sure there's any other sort around here.

On the one hand, I wonder if I should tell them upfront, because I'm pretty sure they'd want to know that kind of thing and would immediately take their child away from the influence of the dangerous nutcase, or if I don't say anything and they find out later (as they are sure to do, it's a small town) then they might be even more outraged and frightened and feel even more threatened that I never said anything.

It's one thing to say these are idiot moonbat morons (which they are) and they can do as they please (somewhere else) but it's another thing when they are your neighbors, your kids' freinds' parents, and your town is FULL of them.

Just some thoughts, hope it's not too much off topic.

Somebody please write something very witty and very snarky in the comments on that article!!!
Click to expand...

Dear one....if they didn't have a problem with you before, then that's what you ask them, i.e., "So...now that you know I have a gun license, I'm a bad person? I thought you liked me before." Put them on the spoit of having to answer you. "I'm not any different than I was last week, last month or last year. So, would you like to come shooting with me?" [smile][wink]
 
du.com = democraticunderground. com

Do not go there unless you want your head to explode. I used to read there once in a while to see what the other side was thinking. Now it literally makes my head hurt, absolutely zero logic and not an informed decision on the forum. I won't even waste my time anymore over there. It lowers my IQ each time I read a thread.
 
derek said:
du.com = democraticunderground. com

Do not go there unless you want your head to explode. I used to read there once in a while to see what the other side was thinking. Now it literally makes my head hurt, absolutely zero logic and not an informed decision on the forum. I won't even waste my time anymore over there. It lowers my IQ each time I read a thread.
Click to expand...

Ha! I thought when people said du.com here they meant ducks unlimited! (seriously)
 
I'd keep your mouth shut, and be responsible about it. It isn't anyone's business.
Lilorfnannie said:
I'm a mom and my kids have friends over fairly often. I don't have any guns yet, working on the license still. I'm debating about what to do with this problem. I don't plan on telling anyone I have a handgun (when I get it) but I have the strong feeling that if I did, none of my kids' friends would be allowed to come to this house, period. I'd be treated like a leper and a dangerous nutcase around the school. I'm pretty sure when I went to the school some would be staring at me the whole time, wondering if I was carrying while I was at the school. Now it's one thing to say that they aren't people I want to know or want my kids to know but I am not so sure there's any other sort around here.

On the one hand, I wonder if I should tell them upfront, because I'm pretty sure they'd want to know that kind of thing and would immediately take their child away from the influence of the dangerous nutcase, or if I don't say anything and they find out later (as they are sure to do, it's a small town) then they might be even more outraged and frightened and feel even more threatened that I never said anything.

It's one thing to say these are idiot moonbat morons (which they are) and they can do as they please (somewhere else) but it's another thing when they are your neighbors, your kids' freinds' parents, and your town is FULL of them.

Just some thoughts, hope it's not too much off topic.

Somebody please write something very witty and very snarky in the comments on that article!!!
Click to expand...
 
Lynne said:
Dear one....if they didn't have a problem with you before, then that's what you ask them, i.e., "So...now that you know I have a gun license, I'm a bad person? I thought you liked me before." Put them on the spoit of having to answer you. "I'm not any different than I was last week, last month or last year. So, would you like to come shooting with me?" [smile][wink]
Click to expand...

Awesome!! [laugh] [smile]
 
Lilorfnannie said:
[rofl] Noisy little quacker, aren't I [laugh] Hey I'd get one tomorrow if legalities/finances permitted! [smile]
Click to expand...

You live in Connecticut. IIRC, you only need a license to buy a pistol. You can buy a shotgun or rifle without one, either from a private indvidual or from a dealer.
 
Jose said:
You live in Connecticut. IIRC, you only need a license to buy a pistol. You can buy a shotgun or rifle without one, either from a private indvidual or from a dealer.
Click to expand...

I've thought of that- finances aren't cooperating at the moment (as if they had self awareness, already [laugh])- [thinking] I'll get there yet [smile][wink]
 

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