Palladin
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... 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?.
I am shocked. Only 40%? WTF is wrong with this country?
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
- ...
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.
I'm a mom and my kids have friends over fairly often. I don't have any guns yet, working on the license still.
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...
clicking on the comments section I'm sure is worse than browsing du.com
My DNS server refuses to resolve it on principle...d[ouche].com?
I just posted this.
ETA: Which apparently is in a queue. Lets see if it gets published.
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!!!
They must be deleting all the comments. Nobody's agreeing with them !
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.
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!!!
Noisy little quacker, aren't I Hey I'd get one tomorrow if legalities/finances permitted!Wow - 517 posts and you don't even have a gun yet!
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?"
Noisy little quacker, aren't I Hey I'd get one tomorrow if legalities/finances permitted!
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.
I am shocked. Only 40%? WTF is wrong with this country?