Gun Safety around a toddler?

Rifles are one thing but handguns around a toddler? Are you serious? Do you realize the muzzle control issues? A 3 foot rifle (in a safe, locked up like it should be) in the hands of a toddler is one thing but a hand gun….no way. If it’s the whole home self defense issue your husband is worried about…sell a couple handguns and get a security system. Buy a pump shotgun. The “click clack” of a shotgun loading a shell in cahoots with the alarms going off will send ANYONE running.

Bring the safe with you and keep them there unloaded.Make sure the safe is stable and cannot be tipped over on the baby.If you are ant-gun make sure that you allow him if he agrees to maintain the weapons while you and your child are not around and if he agrees to that, be kind enough to allow him moments for maintenance of the weapons.

ok, first of all, don’t be anti gun, cause we all have enough problems in our lives for somebody to tell us not to have guns.

If you don’t want the guns to be able to get in your children’s hands, get a reliable gun safe? No kid will be able to open the safe unless their like a super baby, or pick a specific room in the house that can have a locking door and no windows, this I would say is the best, since if you get a dead bolt and a nob that locks, nobody, including robbers, teenagers, and yes, even a toddler, will ever get into the room without help from the person with the keys.

About you not being able to use the guns to defend yourself? get a locking suitcase style hangun case and choose one of the handguns that you’ll soon be part owner of that you like and ask your husband to take you to a local firing range so you can learn how to fire the handgun properly.

And finally about it causing a fight? think about it if your mother would be trying to give you some of her jewelery and your husband would say that you can’t have any of it because it could cause something bad to happen, like cause you to get mugged because you look like a prime target when wearing the jewelery, think of what kind of fight that this situation would cause?? I know it’s not a good example, but think of this, if you cause him to lose something that can have as much sentimental value as your mother’s jewelery, how would that make you feel to do that to a person that you love enough to call your husband? think of that before disagreeing with anything that he asks for, because I’m sure he’d do the same for you.

Of course, you should insist that your husband buy a gun safe to store the firearms. It only makes good sense, as his expensive gun collection could be stolen by burglars someday. I have had friends of mine that merely went out to dinner and were only gone for 3 hours and came back to find their home was burglarized. So, a gun safe is a smart investment for a number of reasons.

However! I am going to take a walk down memory lane here. As a child, I was just as curious as any toddler. Looking back with my fuzzy memory, I can tell you that I was no angel. But, also looking back, I remember that I absolutely, positively, never, ever approached my father’s gun case. He had all manner of fireams in that case that were clearly visible through the glass doors. I really don’t recall what he and my mother did to disuade me from ever going near that area of the den (it was where I spent most of my time playing with my toys), but I never got near the gun cabinet…and…it had no locks on the doors or drawers.

Another things that amazes me. My father also collected whiskey decanters. My Dad was not a drinker, but he collected all sort of ceramic and glass whiskey bottles – full of whiskey. Again, as a teenager, I was no angel. And I have a laundry list of things I can admit to doing now that were not proper for a teen to be doing. But, for some reason, I had absolutely no curiosity about ever touching the alcohol that was in my house. I can honestly say that in all those year, I never even tasted even a drop of the stuff.

I guess the point I am making is that many years ago, my old-fashioned parents seemed to know how to control their rather uncontrollable child (me). Let’s not forget that your toddler is going to have to be making plenty of other decisions in life as he grows. Perhaps it’s not too early to start being a good parent (whatever that is these days) and teaching your very young son how to obey mom and dad and stay clear of things that might do him harm.

I think fundamentally you have an issue to resolve before anything else, and it is simply this:

Are you willing to have guns in your home?

If you are willing to have guns in your home there is quite standard, easily available training you can get on how to make a handgun or rifle safe in your home. Obviously you know about gun safes as that is where they currently are at, and they can be stored such that it would be a challenge to use them for self defense, but certainly in a condition where no toddler can be hurt by them.

Accidental gun injury and death, particularly to youngsters, virtually never happens to people who are competent in the safe handling of firearms. Generally it occurs with people who, perhaps, know how to shoot, but little else about responsible gun ownership. If you choose to have the guns in your home, you have a responsibility to learn what you need to.

There are alot of things that are relevant here – with 5 rifles and 10 handguns, you are potentially talking about $5,000 – $10,000 worth of firearms. You sound as if you are not interested in seeing a firearm in the context of personal protection, but are you really opposed to having unloaded safed and locked up firearms in your home? Are you really inclined to drive your husband to part with assets of this monetary value if not sentimental value?

In my experience (of which I have had a significant amount) the type of “fight” you describe sounds like it is largely over the emotional component of your feeling about firearms. Fundamentally, this is what you need to resolve with your husband.

I will not insult you by calling your fears irrational or ignorant. People are afraid of what they are afraid of and they simply need to address them.

If you chose to address your fears by having the guns in the house under the conditions that they are absolutely safe for your boy, then it can be done. In fact, growing up, my father had firearms in the house I never even knew about.

If you choose to address your fears by holding a hard line with your husband about how you feel, then I don’t know what to tell you, other than that childrens’ greatest risk associated with firearms is lack of knowledge. There are 4 critical rules of gun handling which take less than 15 minutes to teach a child. In another 30 minutes to an hour you can teach them to safe almost any firearm until an adult is home. I personally have taught children as young as 8 these rules and how to shoot. Before you know it, your 4 year old boy will be an 8 or 10 year old boy who will be exposed to firearms some way – through television, through knowing someone whose parent’s hunt or shoot in competition or through his father.

Choose wisely in how you want to prepare your son and family for the future.

Good Luck,

Thinkingblade

keep them locked execpt fot the night stand gun,,, you can secure it with a easy combintation lock box,, digatal key pad type,,, the life you safe may be yours and your toddler ok thanks eddie

If you have a problem, solve it. Don’t do anything that will escalate the problem. There’s no need to fight. Try and see if you can meet him half way and solve the problem.

Before you do anything, you must realize that a gun is just a chunk of metal and wood/plastic without the ammunition. I worried A LOT more about household chemicals, gas stoves or passing cars than a properly stored gun. Even a half bucket of water is a lot more deadly to a child than a unloaded gun. More children were seriously injured or even killed in bicycle accidents than in firearm accidents. Yet, many children receive bicycles as birthday or Christmas presents every year.

Let him take those chunks of metal and wood home if he agrees that he’ll keep them locked up in a safe. Make him lock up the ammo in a separate child proof lockable device. If he insisted on having a loaded gun out for home protection, let him have one if he agrees that he’ll get at least one of the following safety devices:

I really like both products mentioned above. Go to a gun shop and ask for them. Go and play around those 2 devices. GunVault is a pretty straight forward combination locked safe. Pro-Lok is a tricky device. Try to figure out how to open one without any help of instructions. Give yourself at least one hour and see if you can figure out how open it. Go play around those 2 devices. I think you’ll trust those 2 products like I do if you’re willing to give them a try.

FYI, there are a lot of potential problems for storing firearms registered in your husband’s name at a location other than “his” permanent address. You better check with your local law enforcements and see if this is a violation of the law.

Interestingly, a friend of mine on an as-yet-unnamed forum mentioned she attended a “a talk given by local police about self defense for physically challenged”.

Toward the end of the talk, another woman had asked asked about having a firearm for self-defense. The officer in charge of the seminar then proceeded to infer that woman were too unintelligent, too emotional, and too incompetent to own a firearm. Couple this with Officer Friendly’s misrepresentation of a few points on the law, particularly blatant misinformation spread about laws concerning open carry in vehicles, and I think I can see where the culture of ignorance and fear comes into play.

No offense, mind you. This is something I’ve been trying to track for a while, and I think you may have helped me narrow down some of the cause. Thank you.

To paraphrase an AF weapons instructor I had a few years ago: “The safety is the thing between your ears.” If you want safety, educate yourself.

You’re obviously a smart woman, I say this in that you are seeing a problem you’re not sure how to deal with and are seeking outside advice. With this in mind, the best thing I can tell you is to educate yourself. That, and get a decent safe.

Peace of mind, strength of mind. It’s a beautiful combination.

You might want to educate your short-one on proper safety and handling as well. It keeps the “oooh!” factor down when a gun’s not tucked away in the back somewhere, all mysterious and mystical.

Besides, like I said, you’re smart, that probably means you have a smart kid. Smart kids get into things BECAUSE they want to know more about them. Quench his thirst for knowledge, and his interests will be elsewhere.

Side note: Interestingly, home swimming pools have a greater annual death rate than firearms, and there are far fewer people with swimming pools in their back yards than projectile-launchers in their homes.

Parting remark: It sounds like you’ve never been to the range much, if at all. Spend a couple of afternoons down there.

INSIST that you start off with a .22, and remind your hubby you’ll move up to larger-caliber rounds when YOU are ready. Your curiosity will let you know when.

Have him put his arms around you when he shows you the proper grip and stance. I taught someone very close to me how to shoot with this method, and now she gets better shot-groups than I do.

*sigh*

Get a gun cabinet- you can buy them out of hunting stores/ online/ or out of catalogs.
They can have keys or they can have combination locks

Make sure that the ammo and guns are separate!
You can also buy gun locks
(they usually come with a gun if you buy it)
Also, talk to your son about guns, tell him that the only time he’s supposed to be near a gun is when he’s with you or his dad. A 4 year old will understand that and as he gets older teach him about guns that way he’ll understand them- like how they can be really safe but yet if used incorrectly they can be harmful too.