My nieces (6 & 4) and my nephew (6)were over today so I put an empty .38 under a pillow and had the 4 year old go grab the pillow for me while I was in the next room observing them. Well the lil one grabbed the pillow so quick that she didn't see the gun.Nephew was 1st to spot it and he quietly told 6 year old niece.
 She immediately yelled  "Uncle Dan ! uncle Dan ! , there's a gun on the couch !" (just like we discussed months before ).I pointed out that nephew should have said something to an adult right away and that niece did exactly what she should have. I will 'set-up' nephew again in a few weeks or have sis do it.

 Definetly baby-steps ... just basically don't want them to touch one unless they are at a range and being supervised. I did show them that even though gun was unloaded that I never point it at anyone (including myself) and that I keep my finger outside of the trigger guard.
   I got the idea from some commie TV show that had the kids playing with one that they planted in their playroom at school. (But of course they never told the children what to do in that situation.)
   And the girls have already marched in parades complete with 'Old Glory' and 'Don't Tread On Me' flags...it really is a sight to see and they love it.(6 year olds understand Freedom better than most sheep because they haven't been exposed to as much 'conditioning'.

I'll have to remember that.
My nephew is three and I haven't even shown him any of my rifles.
My sister's ex's family has taught him it's fun to point fingers like guns at each other and say "Bang". Granted this wouldn't normally worry me, but since it's my guns and my responsibility, I don't want to try any tricks until he learns the difference between his finger and an Armalite.

Good incorporation of some of the "Eddie Eagle" stuff... don't touch, leave the area, tell an adult.
I taught that program for a couple of years and I beleive it helps.
Good for you for thinking about the kids in your family and teaching them young.

My kids will soon get the same test.
4 & 7 yrs old. They know what to do now lets see if they do it!

nothing is more powerful than example.
i took all my kids outside and had a gallon milk jug full of water i had prepositioned. i took the clip out of my .45 glock and said now this gun is unloaded right!!!
they all said yes. then i pulled the trigger and we all got soaked. the milk jug was devestated. they now look at guns as never really unloaded! as they got older i went into detail. but for the small ones. the noise, shock and getting wet is something they will never forget!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations. Lessons learned early will last a lifetime.

I was showing my friend a rifle and it had a empty magazine in it I ask if he wanted to see it he said yes so I showed him the action was open there was no rounds in the mag or in the chamber but the kid didn't want to touch it unless I dropped the mag, thats were stupidity comes from people think that a gun without a mag is unloaded, now that how people get shot!

good job!! isn't education wonderful.

I did the same little "test" on my 3 year old to show my wife we're learning things, and our doughter is as gun safe as she should be for her age.  To my little girl they're all shotguns, I don't know why, that's just what she calls them. When I have one that's nice and shiny she says "daddy clean shotgun". When I ask her "do you touch guns without daddy?" she says "no daddy" and I say good girl.  We do however for fun sometimes shoot the little daisy BB repeater (accually I do all of the cocking and pulling the trigger, but she thinks it's fun to watch the cans fall and she thinks she's doing it because she counts to three and it goes bang).  My little test was just a strategicly misplaced (unloaded)glock (on the bed with cartoons on the bedroom TV). She sat in the floor while eating her cheetos (as instructed by mother time and time again because of crumbs in bed) without noticing it in the bed. Shortly after wiping her cheesy hands all over the capret she starts to get in the bed to watch cartoons until she passes out for nap time. Then she saw it, it was just a hand guard and trigger visible. She reached out to investigate further and pulled the sheet back to see that there was a gun in the bed. The next thing I heard was little 40lb footsteps running down the hall while she came to inform me of my "mistake" - "Shotgun on bed daddy, no touch!"

Needless to say I was happy, but I've got some Q's.

What should the next step be?  How can I be sure peer pressure or something of that nature won't override gunsafety teachings?

To answer the question of peer pressure, if you teach your kids they will stay away from the guns unless allowed to see them.

My 7yr old had a friend over one day. I have a closet in his room that all my guns are locked up in. I store them unloaded and locked up seperatley within the closet along with gun accessories. I had forgotten to lock the door to the closet after I had been in it earlier that day. I was in another room when I heard the closet open. I just listened to what was going on in the room. The boy said to my son, lets look at the guns. My son said no and to close the door. The boy tried to pressure him, and my said no again. The boy asked one more time and my son yelled "Dad, so and so is in your closet". I thanked him and told him to lock the closet and close the door. I couldn't of been more proud.

I never had any exposure to guns when I was a kid. I spent the night at a friends house when I was about 10 years old or so..we came across some pistols in his Dad's closet and ran around the house for a bit pointing them at each other saying 'bang bang' and the like. I still don't know if they were loaded or not and just feel lucky that nothing bogus happened.

I have one to bounce off you guys. My 2 nephews were down for Easter and after dinner my wife suggeted I take the 15 yr old down to the toy room and show him my new rifle(PC name so as not to alarm my sisters, thats a story unto itself I wont bore you with).
Anyway, the 15yr old follows me down and his 10yr old brother follows too. I hand the 15yr old the AR and he asks if it is an M16, to which I answer no, but before I could explain what it was the 10 year old said it was an AR15.
Here is where my quandry comes in.
My nephews and my 20 yr old niece have been to hell and back, since my sister is a recovering drug addict(so she claims), walked out on the family and is in general bigger b$%^^^^^^^^&ch than hillary c.
I am concerned that a 10 yr old can identify and know the differance between an M16/AR15.
Assuming it is an M16 I can understand since it and an AK are the 2 weapons seen in movies most often.
Wondering if I need to talk to his dad ( who is a normal, well adjusted person) and see if he is obsessed with guns or talks about them alot.
With what the little guy has been through I hope he isnt picking up on all of the school shooting/settle your problems with a gun thing.
What do you all think
Lee

They probable have that gun on a video game...my nepew has a game where they choose weapons and one of the weapons is called a "5.56er" (pronounced 5 5 6 er). They have games where you steal cop cars and snipe people-it's really unbelievable. If they have anything like that I'd have sis replace it with a better game because I think they get too fixated with crazy ideas.  I also have young teen niece and nephew and they've been to range and know that they can go anytime they want so they never have to play with guns in an unsafe enviroment because I will let them shoot all the ammo they want.(If they were over 18 I'd make 'em pay for ammo and clean some of the gear- so they better enjoy it while thay can).

The game you are refering to with the "five-five-sixer" is Metal Gear Solid. The actual firearm is a FAMAS. Might wanna tell 'em that. Oh and if you really wanna keep 'em away from violent video games, steer clear of Counter-Strike, you just shoot people and use teamwork and strategy. Also stay away from Rainbow Six. This assumes you don't want them to play violent video games.

A friend of mine tried that "test" with my 5 year old. He left a revolver on a foot stool so that when Cole came out of the restroom he would see it. As Cole was walking by it he looked at it, but never stopped and kept going until he found the seat that he was in before going to the restroom. When my friend asked him about the gun, he said, "So, that one is not daddy's." I about fell out of my chair LMFAO. He asked him what to do if he found it and I wasn't in the room. Cole said he would go ask me if I got a new gun and if he could shoot it some day.
Again LMFAO.

One of the really sad things today is the general attitude about guns. The average kids exposure to guns will be from using them in video games where they learn Urban Earfare.

How much better would things be if they had exposure to guns in the first and second grade with the stress on safety.