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View Poll Results: Is leaving a hidden firearm in the house with a 12 year old as described dangerous?
Not dangerous due to his training and responsibility 4 11.76%
Not dangerous if his training and responsibility is as described 8 23.53%
I can't be sure without knowing more but I'm leaning toward dangerous 8 23.53%
yes, dangerous, you're asking for trouble 14 41.18%
Voters: 34. You may not vote on this poll

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Old June 29, 2012, 12:33 PM   #1
chack
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storage laws and children

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Old June 29, 2012, 12:49 PM   #2
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Curiosity in pre teens kills more than just cats. Mine can't even mow the lawn.

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Old June 29, 2012, 12:54 PM   #3
motorhead0922
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Quote:
I don't allow my kids in my bedroom and they respect that
What about the other kids? How old/responsible are they?

You also have to consider their friends that visit.
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Old June 29, 2012, 12:59 PM   #4
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Curiosity in pre teens kills more than just cats.
+1. I have kids around this age. I'm not tremendously worried about my own children; what worries me is their friends. Preteen boys are usually very interested in guns and weaponry in general- I was one once, I remember.

Despite my repeated warnings not to talk about Dad's guns, I'm confident they've told a few other kids, and it's pretty obvious from looking at my bookshelf and the handloading bench that I have more than a passing interest in firearms and probably own a few of them. I DON'T want another person's child to be able to find an unsecured firearm while nosing around my house!
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Old June 29, 2012, 01:15 PM   #5
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Depends on the child. My 13 year old daughter has never touched any gun without permission, not once.
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Old June 29, 2012, 02:06 PM   #6
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Old June 29, 2012, 02:29 PM   #7
Frank Ettin
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There are no pat answers.

[1] There have been incidents in which an adolescent has been able to access a gun and effectively protect other family members.

[2] But kids have friends visit and there may be other visitors in the house, perhaps with children, at other times and for other reasons. And it takes just an instant for something very bad to happen.

[3] And the law is what it is, so they can be potential criminal liability hanging over one's head.

People will have to weigh the issues and make a decision that they will be willing to live with.
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Old June 29, 2012, 02:49 PM   #8
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I am not sure if an internet poll is the best way to answer this question.
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Old June 29, 2012, 06:30 PM   #9
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I am not really sure how to answer this poll. Currently I lock up all of my guns unless the gun is in my possession. I have teenage relatives that visit often along with an elderly parent that stays with me some. They are occasionally home alone and may have a friend over, so I feel it is best to secure everything.

However, I grew up in a home where the guns were in an unlocked cabinet. My Father was very open about showing and teaching us about the guns, but very strict about us touching them unless he was present. With one notable exception neither of us ever accessed his guns without permission. Because they were accessible my brother did use one to stop a home invasion when we were home alone.

I guess you just have to think/pray about it and make the decision that is right for your family.
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Old June 29, 2012, 07:00 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chack
What are y'alls thoughts?
My view is that people who intentionally violate laws are criminals. People who think laws do not apply to them are egotists.

If you don't think the law makes good sense, instead of seeking moral (?) support to break it, why don't you work to get it changed or repealed?

BTW, your poll left out one choice: "Illegal"
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Old June 30, 2012, 12:41 AM   #11
hermannr
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I had my own .22 rifle in my room when I was 12. It was my 12th birthday present. I had access to any gun my dad owned, but never touched them unless I was with him...in the 50's NO-ONE had gun safes, and NO_ONE worried about their children.

You had guns, you trained your kids on how to safely handle and care for your firearms, and what they were allowed to hanndle on their own, and what they were not...

Of course, Dr Spock...who never raised any children of his own, wasn't spouting his garbage back then either.

Your child, you do as you deem fit. I will make one statement, kids really like to be trusted...and if you are fair, they will Not violate that trust. Kid's are not dumb, and they are not crazy, unless you do not discipline them and let them do whatever they want.

We raised 5, and now have 14 grandchildren...I think I know a little bit about kids. A lot more than Dr. Spock and his ilk.
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Old June 30, 2012, 01:28 PM   #12
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Unfortunately we can only judge situations like this after the fact and after all the facts are in.
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Old June 30, 2012, 01:44 PM   #13
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When I was a kid in the 1950s I knew where all my dad's guns were hidden, even though he didn't know that I knew. I sometimes snooped in my parent's bedroom when they were gone. I sometimes played with dad's guns when I was alone, although I was careful, so no harm came of that. I did all sorts of things that my parents never know about, and some of those things were dangerous. I am willing to bet that your son is not much different from what I was.
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Old June 30, 2012, 06:17 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hermannr
Of course, Dr Spock...who never raised any children of his own, wasn't spouting his garbage back then either.
Of course he was. I was born in 1944 and grew up in the 50s. My mother read Dr. Spock and followed his advice almost religiously. My grandfather and both of my uncles who lived on the same street all had firearms in their houses, none of the firearms were locked up, we kids (my brother and I and all my cousins) all knew where the guns were ... and we never touched them without an invitation from one of the adults.

Don't blame it on Dr. Spock.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Spock

Quote:
Benjamin McLane Spock (May 2, 1903 – March 15, 1998) was an American pediatrician whose book Baby and Child Care, published in 1946, is one of the biggest best-sellers of all time.
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Old June 30, 2012, 10:15 PM   #15
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Everybody does stupid and irresponsible things in their lives. Young people are even more prone to do so because they lack the experience of age. That is why we don't allow them to vote, drink, get married, or get tattoos. It is our hope that we have trained them enough to appreciate the dangers of firearms. But they are not robots to be programmed. They are people. Silly stupid people that we dearly love. I believe children should be educated about guns and learn to enjoy and respect them. But, as much as I might trust a "responsible" child, I know that they are not immune from "the follies of youth", and that I hope that of all the bad choices they make in their lives, they are limited in the abilities to include guns in them while they're still young.
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Old June 30, 2012, 10:23 PM   #16
hermannr
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I wish I knew how to get teh quotes to work here, so

Frank...you have to references your statement #2:

One of my granddaughters was visiting this summer...and she made a comment that directly addresses what you state in #2.

She said "Grandpa, how come some kids want you to violate a trust? some of my friends were over, they know we shoot, and they wanted to see mom's and dad's guns?"

I told her, some kids do not understand trust, then I asked her, well Katy, what did you do? and she said, "I sent them home..."

You see what I was stating about kids and "trust".

As for Chack in you second post..understand...I had my daughters milking, daily chores, at 9 years old.
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Old June 30, 2012, 10:26 PM   #17
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When I was a kid I would occasionally would play with my dads 357 when he was away, I knew how to use guns because I was shown from a very young age how to shoot. I would unload the gun and then look at it, I was always very safe because I am writing this.
That being said, I lock all my guns at all times because I couldn't even think how I could live with myself if something happened to my kids and I could of prevented it by taking an extra step in securing it. I've seen experienced gun owners do stupid things without thinking, it just takes a split second. With the quick access lock boxes they sell today there's no reason not to. Just food for thought.
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Old June 30, 2012, 10:39 PM   #18
Frank Ettin
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hermannr
...I wish I knew how to get teh quotes to work here...
Just copy and paste what you want to quote into your reply window. Then put quote tags around what you want to quote.

Quote tags look like this {quote} ... what you want to quote...{/quote}, except with square brackets instead of the wavy brackets. Changing the wavy brackets to square brackets, you'd get this when it's posted:
Quote:
... what you want to quote...
If you want to identify who you're quoting, the tags would look like this {quote=whoever} ... what you want to quote...{/quote}. Changing the wavy brackets to square brackets, you'd get this when it's posted:
Quote:
Originally Posted by whoever
... what you want to quote...
You can also highlight the copied quoted text in your reply window and click on the "quote" icon in the menu at the top. That would add the quote tags.

You can use the Preview Post function to make sure you've got it right.

Detour over. Now back to our regularly scheduled thread.
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Old June 30, 2012, 10:53 PM   #19
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Thanks Frank.
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Old June 30, 2012, 11:59 PM   #20
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I know my oldest daughter was very influenced by her friends and did things she never would on her own. These days there are all kinds of quick access gun safes you can purchase for a reasonable price to protect your kids from themselves.
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Old July 2, 2012, 11:27 AM   #21
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I voted that yes they are dangerous, but that is still to broad of a brush to paint everyone with. Some kids will be fine and others won't. Sometimes we are surprised by which ones are influenced into bad choices from family, friends, or just their everyday surroundings. I believe that there are just too many good options for quick access that will help keep everyone safer in you home than leaving guns laying around.

That being said, I come from a home where my dad always had loaded and chambered guns throughout the home and I was just fine. Most of the time when hanging around with friends I was at thier homes in the subdivision where most of my close friends lived. We lived just on the outskirts and my friends never really hung out at my house because it was harder for us all to get together there.
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Old July 2, 2012, 12:09 PM   #22
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Chack, you may never have an actual problem with keeping it hidden. However, if something ever does happen that FL law is going to come right back around to you. Best be legal and keep it locked up. If you decide that you need a quick-access gun then get a safe with either a biometric or push-button lock.
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Old July 2, 2012, 01:11 PM   #23
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My Dad taught me about guns. I knew where he kept the rifle and the shotgun.


He ALWAYS told me to leave them alone when he was not around. I did not always do that and but for the Grace of God, I never ended up in a situation that I would live to regret...BUT...there WERE a couple of times when it could have turned out the other way. Fate or whatever you want to call it, smiled at me.

Case in point, there was an armory being built for the National Guard near our house and we kids played around the place even though we were told not to do that. As they moved in equipment, they brought in a load of land mines. I have NO clue if they were real or not but the detonators WERE.

They were the square box and the pencil type detonators and they both used a round initiator to set off the charge.

So what did we do? We rigged detonators round our house with fishing line for trip wire...

We had NO idea just how powerful those detonators were. If one had gone off in our face, we would have been maimed or blinded if not flat out killed.

We were told to stay away from the place but we did not.

My uncle saw what we were doing and flat out told us we had no clue about the danger. He has just gotten back from South Korea and he knew what he was talking about.

He told us to get that stuff back to the armory and if he heard about any more monkey shines from us, he would tell our parents what we had done.

We learned a lesson and never messed with that kind of thing again.

Point being, we had access, motivation goaded by curiosity and the belief that as kids, we were ten feet tall and bullet proof.

We lucked out. Others are not so fortunate and cemeteries are full of young kids who have done the same thing as we did except for the ending.

Our children are grown now and on their own. I do not know everything thing they did when I was away from the house. I did not leave guns around and in the open, but they knew where they were and how to get to them.

You can't be too safe and you cannot assume your kids are always 100 percent truthful.

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Old July 2, 2012, 11:26 PM   #24
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I had my first .22 at ten years of age. Dad made sure there was no ammo in the house, we made a trip to the store on plinking day and shot it all up to the last round.

I knew where my Dad's pistol was kept by the age of five. He moved it around for years, he knew I knew, and I knew he knew I knew the secret. I found it every time within a day or two. I knew better than to play with it, but the point is, I knew where it was, went to it often enough, and luckily knew better than to play with it.

Dad sold the pistol around my 13th birthday. Years later he said, "I knew the difference between a young boy and a teenager. Teenagers cannot be trusted, no matter how good they were a couple of years earlier. No creature on earth is dumber than a teenager."

Better safe than sorry.
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