I was wondering how many fools with children don't lock up their guns and rely on the "my kids know better" or "my kids know I'll beat their ass if they touch my guns". I was telling my dad how he needed a gun safe as my children spend quite a bit of time over at their house. My dad agreed but said: "I didn't have to worry about a gun safe when you were a child because you knew what would happen to you if I caught you playing with my guns". I really had to set him straight on this subject. I told him that I did play with his guns every chance I got. I was just a smart kid and knew to unload them before playing with them and when I was done I would load them back up and put them back in the exact same place. My dad went and bought a gunsafe the same day but still can't understand that with all the discipline I was raised with, how I could play with his guns knowing that my ass would be grass if caught. I never got caught. I've done alot of things as a child that my parents would not approve of but never got caught doing them. One of my friends also has the foolish notion that his kids know better and know what's gonna happen to them if they do mess with his guns. But he's a fool to rely on that if his kids are anything like I was. Also in todays climate you can't really beat your kids like our parents used to. They call that child abuse now and they will take your kids away from you. I think the only sure thing is lock your guns up where little hands can't get at them. Don't get me wrong, I take my oldest son shooting and let him handle my guns as much as he wants when I'm around but I can't imagine leaving a loaded gun where he could come across it (kids 5 mo, 2 yr, 7 yr).

A lot of people dont want to hear this. I agree.
I do believe in spankings however you are the adult.Even if the kid is responsible enough what about his friends.i believe in taking the mystery out of guns.I show them any time they want.I've missed stuff on Tv i wanted to watch and time for books i wanted to read.But i was spending time with my kids and they were learning.thats way more important.See my thread on taking my son shooting the first time.I still don't leave unatended firearms around.

BV - That is really scary.  You must have had real balls as a kid.  I never did play with my dad's gun.  I was way to scared, plus my uncle had much better guns.  I would never mess with my uncle's guns, because he would always take me out shooting anyway.  Unfortunately, I must agree on needing a safe these days.  Even if your kids are responsible, there is know telling what could happen if they have friends over.  Better safe than sorry.

I agree....kids will be kids, and much better safe than sorry.  I teach my child (just 4 yrs now) about guns and safety constantly.  He frequently goes with me shooting, and I go out of my way to explain safety tips as I shoot and instill it's importance into his head.  BUT, if I am not around, they are locked and out of his reach.  I don't own a safe now, but have made an extra closet into my "gun closet" and equiped it with an extra dead bolt lock.  I hope to get a real safe at some point in the near future.

Bullshit!
I was raised in a house full of loaded, unsecured guns and guess what? I survived in one piece. I raised my kids in a home full of loaded, unsecured guns and guess what? Yep, they're all alive today as well.
Explain this why in the Hell is that guns where mrope predominant in homes, vehicles and available prior to the '68 GCA most were unlocked. We did not have the freakin' hysteria that you are now helping about [i]"Oh my God, we have to lock up all of the guns to save the freakin children."[/i] Guns were every where but somehow, inexplicably in spite of all that kids were not being killed with guns.

You have eaten the anti-gun bullshit up with a spoon and I cannot wait for you to come back here next week and tell us how we should all carry our guns unloaded and with trigger locks on them.
Had I been your daddy when you "set him striahgt" I would have taken you over my knee and blistered your liberal twisted little ass......for the children. Christ!

I did the same thing.  I found and played with all of them.  I knew what I was doing and covered my tracks well.  I'm 30 now, and a couple months ago my dad, not being dumb, told me that he assumed I had found and played with them, but he could never prove it.  I verified his suspicions and he got over it about a minute later.

Neither will I be dumb enough to think that my kids won't play with my stuff, but I do have a safe to minimize the temptation.  I for one will be sure that they know what they are doing and the liability involved in doing it.  I won't live in the "not my kids" world.  I figure that as long as my genetic makeup is within them, they will forage for things to play with and do regardless of what they are told.

I don't believe that they should be aggressively protected from everything because that costs them everything, but I do think that one should minimize the temptation.  The guns won't be out in the open, but there will probably be a couple routinely out of the safe.

Of course, when I do have kids, this could all go out the window and I could become a hypocrite.  

Gunslinger, I couldn't agree with you more. Growing up we kept a loaded 22 behind the kitchen door. It was just like a hammer or a saw or any other tool. We didn't abuse it or the shotgun. At my house I have a lot of guns and the ammo for them is with them. Never had a problem with my kids going and using them when they wern't supposed to. My parents trusted me with a tractor a pickup truck, why not a gun.

Gunslinger, while I can see your point, the fact is that the rate of accidental shootings in this country has been falling for decades now. I honestly believe that increased proper storage and securing of firearms has been a vital element in that trend.

Call me a liberal if you must, but I have become a believer that being a resposnible owner of firearms entails taking reasonable steps towrads properly securing them from possible misuse when you are not present. I do not believe this should be mandated, just encouraged. Education is the key.

i cant afford a safe so i use a tool box with a big f@#kin lock. yeah i played with my dads guns too....BUT HE TAUGHT ME HOW TO LOAD THEM UNLOAD THEM AND NOT POINT IT AT ANYTHING I DINT WANT DESTROYED. AND HE SHOWED ME HOW THEY COULD KILL THE OLD RABBIT AND 12 GAUGE TRICK! i'm more worrey about visiting adaults that dont know shit about guns pickin one up and pullin the trigger out of ignorance. then my kids  

When I was a kid, I used to play with my dad's guns too.  I knew how to handle it though.  My wife did the same thing when she was a little girl.  

The problem is, what happens to the kid that knows how to handle a gun but makes a mistake?  Mistakes do happen.  They happen to adults so I imagine they are very likely to happen with children.  As a parent you might have no idea that your kid is playing with your gun but that doesnt mean it isnt so.  

As far as stats go, who cares what they say?  If your child gets killed youre not going to give a crap about the stats.  it only has to happen once.

To be on the safe side, lock them up.  If you need to have one handy, keep it unloaded with the ammo somewhere else.  Kids make a lot of bad decisions, even with the proper discipline.

damn right! kids make mistakes and so do bleedin heart antigun librals

I have to agree w/ Boomer. "Reasonable" is interpreted differently by different people however.  My kids both know how to check to see if guns are loaded etc. before they are allowed to touch them.  Personally, the majority of my guns are stored in safes.  When I say "reasonable", I mean what works for me...everyone's situation is diferent and should be treated that way.  I had a discussion with a "liberal" who was dead set against the NRA's Eddie Eagle Program being introduced into the school curriculum, stating that she didn't want to "expose" her kids to guns.  I asked her about the DARE program to which she replied that "that's different".  See what I mean by reasonable?  Some people just don't get it.  One last thing. In MA we have a law mandating locks on guns.  If someone breaks into my house and steals an "unsecured" gun I could be charged with a criminal offense.  If that gun is used in a crime and recovered, I can be sued.  Stupid liberal state I live in.  But if I left my keys in my unlocked car and someone stole the car and killed someone with it, am I held liable or can I be criminally charged? No.  This state sucks!

Gunslinger, thanks for playing I know I would find a fool, and even better you sound like an old fool.

First off, I set my dad straight last month, I'm 36 years old and just out of the USMC, neither he nor you or even the two of you old fools together could put me over a knee.

You are the type of fool that gives all gunowners a bad rap. An irresponsible gunowner.
The type of gunowner (like one of my friends) that reserves the right to leave loaded firearms all over the house regardless of how many children & their friends that may be in said house at any given time, even when you are not there. Why do we need to lock up our guns? Have you heard of Columbine? Do you know that there are kids today that are doped up on crap like ritalin and other anti-ADD type drugs that seem to cause them to take their dads guns and go on shooting sprees? This crap wasn't around when you & I were kids. The world has changed yet you cling to the past. You're a dinosaur that doesn't know it's extinct yet. Go find a pit and throw yourself it. You just make the rest of us look bad. Anti-gun? Liberal? Hehe, you couldn't get further from the truth.


Driftpunch: Yes it is different when you have kids, before kids I literally had loaded guns all over the house. Now that my oldest ones can climb and can get into anything I lock every loaded up gun when I'm not at home.

Oe are less accidental shootings taking place because less people are shooting because it is less PC.

I've always had a loaded .22 behind the fridge, from before the kids were born.  When ever they had even a toy guns I'ld always holer "muzzle concious" if they swept anyone or anything.

I've come home and found .22 casings in the sink or on the kitcen floor, first time I think my son was 8 or 9.  I asked him if he was playing with the .22 (sternly while giving him the harry eye).  He admitted it and told me he was trying to pop a red squirrel.  I asked "did you get him?"

My children are thirteen and nearly twelve. We have a massive gun safe and most of the firearms that are not in my kid’s closets are in the safe. The gun safe is to protect the firearms from bad guys when we are gone, not from our children when we are home.

The firearms in their closets are not loaded but the ones in other closets are and they know where they are because they load them into the car for our weekend trips to the range.

My kids have been raised around firearms and practice gun safety. Since my youngest turned 10 they both have had access to firearms and to this day they both will come to me and ask if they can take out one of their own rifles (from their own closet) or the safe) and look at it before they touch one of them.

The surest way to ensure that children do not get killed do to an AD is to teach them early and take them to the range often. Teach them to clean their own guns and a lot of the mystery about them will disappear.

Not all kids mature at the same rate; it took my kids almost 5 years of firearm handling and instruction before we felt they could be trusted not to take them out without permission. It was a good thing too because the safe was starting to overflow.

I’m ready to be flamed.


THISISME

I ain't gots me none kids and probably never will gets none. I don need no stinkin safe.

I know all of you have a different idea of a child, what I'm talking about is pre-teen (12 or under). I don't want to come home to discover one of my children (or child's friend) found one of my loaded laying around guns and had an accident. Regardless of how much training I have administered. Sure way to prevent that is to lock up my guns. I asked my 7 year old to cock my 1911, I didn't think he could, and sure enough he found a way to do it, that really opened my eyes. Now the problem I face is when can a child have possession of a gun and ammo under their control? I got my first .22 rifle at 12 and kept it my room with bricks of ammo. Now I never did anything stupid with it and it was a much different climate back then. So my question is when can you trust your child to have control of a firearm? And gunslinger, nothing personal, I just enjoy a lively debate.

i kept my first .22 at age 6 but i have a 6yr old child now and i wouldnt trust a .22 in my childs rm i think 10 is a good age just my .02

I agree. The fact that my children are informed about the safe handeling of firearms. The risk is to great with all the other children in the neighborhood coming over for a visit after school. Aslo provides a great place to store the other household valubles.

Fconn

What about the neighborhood miscreants who would steal your 38? :)

Bobby Vincent, It’s not an age thing at all. It’s when through your best judgment you feel they can be trusted based on your observation of your Childs maturity and respect they show to firearms and to others.

My children have never been left at home alone and their friends are not left alone to snoop around. The only loaded guns are in my office and in our bedroom and on my person and are off limits to the kids.

A rebellious child who disrespects his parent and authority figures would not be aloud access to firearms under my roof even at 18 years old.

Also in some states there are laws that require parents to keep firearms locked up and out of reach.

THISISME

Interesting read.........I grew up in a home with many unsecured firearms, both loaded and unloaded.  Those that were secured were in a locked gun cabinet that had the key on the top so I actually had access to those also any time I wished to handle them.  By the same token I was walking around with my own single shot .22 whenever I desired to do so, loaded or not.  My father happened to have built custom handguns for over thirty years.  I remember well being 6 years old and having to be aware enough to look outside my bedroom door into the hallway before I left my room as my father may well have been shooting wax bullets from a handgun into a backstop at the other end of that same hall.  Just a normal part of life as I knew it.  Actually quite wonderful.  I have attempted to teach my own children to respect the potential danger of firearms and although they do, at times shoot, they do not shoot nearly often enough as far as I am concerned.  As I type this my 12 year old is at home where most, but not all of my firearms are in a vault.  I can think of three that are loaded that he could access if he chose to do so.  Both my children have been taught that they are welcome to handle and shoot anything that I own, anytime they wish from the MP-5 to anything else.  The only requirement is that I make sure that it is safe for them to do so.  My children have been taught that firearms are not toys, but neither are they some evil tool of the devil to be hidden away.

One of my favorite memorys of childhood and guns was when my dad would bring home his M-16  and I would play with it while he slept, loaded mags too. Hell he left it right on the kitchen table. Good thing I was a good boy, imagine the head lines "9 year old with machinegun goes on rampage". LOL

Ditto!

I screwed around with my dad's guns when I got the chance.  There is no way I am going to leave my guns out when I have kids.  Nope, all of the guns go in a gun safe, period!

I think it is lunacy to leave loaded guns accessable to little kids while unsupervised.  No matter how well they are taught, most just do not have the judgment to be able to handle a deadly item without supervision.  They just do not understand the risks, afterall, they are kids.

If your 7 year old took drivers ed., whould you feel comfortable letting him take your car out whenever he wanted?  Do you leave bottles of poison or medication accessable to kids?.  If you do, you are asking for trouble.  Sure, most kids will survive playing with guns, Drano and most other things, but why take the chance, especially when the antis can't wait for more kids to get shot with their parents' guns to justify their gun grabbing.

Hey Bobby V., I think you're full of it.  Is owning a safe a prerequisit (sp) to owning a gun? Hell no.  I swear, you sound like a freakin spokesperson for hci.  Do I own a safe?  Yes, but that is because I have 7 rifles and four pistols that would be a great catch for a theif.  Parents need to do what my dad did.  Put a belt on that ass when a kid screws up & take them hunting and shooting every chance you get.  I was also in the Corps and would expect more from a fellow Marine.  Wait a sec, are you a MOLE!!!!!!!!!

DITTO THAT!!!

When I was a kid I played with my dads guns all of the time when he was at work.  Until I got caught.  I put them away barrel down . Sure, it was definately whippin' time, but hell, I just learned what not to do next time.

Nuckles.

Perhaps the way some people raise their kids they will never be safe alone with a firearm.

Some day they will grow up though. Perhaps for some parent the law will decide how old their children will be when they can have access to firearms. 18 for long guns and 21 for hand guns. Then we will all be safer.


THISISME

AR15 - $800
Kimber .45 - $950
etc...etc
Homak cabinet - $85 (keeps little kids out)
Mossberg handgun safe - $225 (accessible in under 5 seconds)
Piece of mind - priceless

I agree with Bobby V. The world (and most everyone in it) is a different place these days and the gamble just isn't worth the potential cost.  

It seems like every month or two there is a kid accidentaly shooting another kid around here, usually with a relatives gun, which was found in the dresser drawer or closet.  The same response always comes from the adult whos gun was used, (best redneck drawl here) " I tole that boy not to touch mah gun ...he nowed better" "I don git it...cain't believe it." " I shoulda wupped him more." "To bad bout that dead boy...he was a good boy..the lord must bin callin him home" Sound like a few of dem peoples be here also.  I guess I'm an anti too. I can live with the burden.

My kids will drive alone with years less training and experience than they received before they could be trusted at home with firearms. There is a legal minimum for driving age.

Excuse me a minuet, my son wants me to go with him so he can see and hold his shotgun for a few minuets.

THISISME

Well, my father had plenty of guns.  Both loaded and accessible and unloaded and stored.  I knew where every one was.  I got my first .22 at 6 years old.  He taught me firearm safety religiously.  I went shooting with him on a regular basis.  He taught me to clean them, their safety features and function.  He wanted to take the mystery out of them, and let me know on every occasion how bad the punishment would be if I ever abused them.

Well guess what, I played with them all the damn time.  I dont know why I was so stupid, but if you have kids.... you would be surprised.  It would probably blow pops mind if he knew about this.

When I have children, I will do everything he did... but I will keep all mine locked up.  

Now, I am NOT saying I think everyone else should.  This is a free country, and parent are respponsible for their own.  Bad things happen, but I dont think we should have any damn laws telling us how to keep our property.  It is unfortunate that a percentage of people will be faced with these tragic scenarios, but life is not always peachy keen.  Every gun owner should be adult enough to understand this, and take their own precautions.

If my kids anything like I was... they will get into anything they can, no matter the consequence.  I will have mine locked up like fort knox.

Wow, it seems like a lot of you played with dad's guns.  I was so used to handling them with my uncle, it never dawned on me to play with them when an adult wasn't around.  All I had to do was ask.  No biggie.  

I think alot of these "accidents" could be prevented if parents spent more time familiarizing their children with guns.  There will always be a bad apple that can't be trusted with a sharp stick.  That is enough reason to keep 'em locked up.

Semper Fi, but the feelings mutual (full of it). In the Marines we were taught to just leave our loaded M16's just laying around the barracks right? Let's see, a responsible gun owner makes you think of HCI hmmm, you must have been infantry (LOL). I got about a dozen rifles and about the same in pistols. Yes I lock up my guns for the following reasons:

1. To keep from thieves  
2. To keep away from my kids  
3. So the wife won't sell em or throw em out   when she's pissed at me.

You do not have to own a safe, but you should have a responsible way of keeping your loaded guns when not in your possession. I do have some guns around the house for display, these are not loaded and are not a threat to the safety of my kids.

This is not just a gun thing, it's a safety issue. Nothing freaked out my wife and me more than seeing our 2 year old hellion (worse than a raccoon) come running out of the kitchen with a 12" butcher knife in his hand running after our 7 year old. We now have child-proof locks on the kitchen drawers as well. I've also locked up all our poisons and checmicals so my kids can't get into them. Can my kids still figure out a way to kill themselves or each other, sure they can. All I've done is to try to minimize the potential dangers around the home (where most accidents occur).

If you don't have kids in the house then I don't give a shit how you keep your guns but if you do, what's the harm in trying not to be the latest statistic in the news. It seems like the few of you feel threatened by what I suggest. Am I saying throw away your guns if you have children? No. Am I saying you must lock up your ammo in one safe and lock up your unloaded gun in another? Not at all, that would be stupid. I'm saying that loaded guns should be locked up away from your children (not teenagers who have already earned your trust) when the gun is not in your control or possession. How does that infringe on your gun rights in any way?

Well Hell, that explains it right there. You can't even trust your wife much less your kids.
I suppose you also lock up all of your kitchen knives, pharmaceuticals, power tools and everything else that poses a potential threat? And I know you have no electricty in your house for the little rug rats to get electrocuted with. How 'bout a bath tub? Those damn things take more kids lives than guns. And don't tell me you ever take them any where in a *gasp* automobile! Cars kill!
Shit Bobby. You may not think of yourself as a liberal gun grabber but you are helping them spread their hysteria so well you may as well join hands with them at the next MMM and sing Cum-Ba-Ya.
Oh and by the way dipshit, no matter how many times you tell us you were a United States Marine you are not going to impress me. I like Marines and have the up most respect for them, I'm former Army myself. But it doesn't cut anything or make you any more of an authority or tough. And you might be surprised at how fast this old man could take you over his knee like a little school girl.
Now go make yourself feel all warm and freakin' fuzzy inside and join HCI. You are already advertising for them.

Why would you give a shit if they do have kids?  The bottom line, it's none of your business to tell anyone how they should handle their guns.  

Is it smart to take precautionary measures in the home?  Hell yes it is!

Is it any of your business what others do in their home?  Hell no it aint!

Bottom line, you are right.  Gun safes are smart.  So is education.  So is training.  So is talking to your kids.

But you have no right to tell others what they should do in the boundaries of their castles.  You take good precautions because you want to protect your interests, and loved ones.  I applaud you for doing so.  That doesn't mean we should be telling others how to live.  It's a free country... and that means we have the freedom to make the wrong choices and learn from them as well.

My son has access to most of our weapons - knives, baseball bats - and firearms.  He used to keep his .22 Crickett under his bed until we got a safe.  Bottom line?  If you can't trust you children to be alone in the house with no means of self-defense, THEN WHY ARE YOU LEAVING THEM HOME ALONE???

First Bobby V let say that my first post was a little hostile and I apolagize (sp).  Having thought about this for a few hours I will say that maybe I was somewhat wrong.  I own a safe to keep theives out of my firearms in the event of a break-in.  I have no kids at the moement (hoping that will change sone) so that ain't an issue.  I guess my point is that any responsible gun owner should secure his or her guns to prevent them from possibly being stolen, if for no other reason.  Bobby, sorry for be puglistic.  Semper Fi.

We had no guns growing up, but I admired my friends fathers guns whenever I could from a distance. After the military and going into LE, I have had guns around the house with all five of mine. They were taught from an early age respect, and how to handle weapons. I did get a safe for one reason only. I do not trust anyone coming into my house. I don't trust other adults or kids, and I do not want anyone to know what I have under no circumstances. The safe is hidden away in a secured area, and when we leave the house, I double check to make sure everything is locked.

Sounds like some of you guys need to spend more time with your children teaching them right & wrong, do's & don'ts, respect........etc.
My dad always had guns around the house, I knew not to "play" with them. Not for fear of an ass whoopin but because I was told not to & I respected his wishes. If your kids need an ass whoopin just to make them mind then you have more problems than just locking up your guns!!!

Maybe you should:

*Lock up your kitchen knives.
*Put a lockout on your garbage disposal.
*Put lockable guards on all electrical outlets.
*Lock up all aerosol spray cans.
*Put a lock on the microwave.
*Lock up all gas cans for lawn mower, weed eater etc.
*Lock up all power tools.
*Lock up all tools with sharp edges & points.
*Lock up all car keys.
*Lock up all chemicals.

The list goes on & on & on.................

I swear I do not understand why some couples even bother to have children when they don't take the time to raise them.

ColtShorty

GOA KABA COA JPFO SAF NRA

"I won't be wronged,  I won't be insulted
and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do
these things to other people and I require
the same from them."  

Little Bobby, the rough, tough Marine must be busy sending out MMM mailings and not able to return to his topic of preaching their message and telling the rest of us how to live our lives.

Gunslinger,
The old man that spanks little boys like wittle Bobby

No problem man, it's easy to for all of us to carried away on these internet boards because of the non-personal communication. Face to face all of us would be much more civil. Take care. Semper Fi.

Well, I'm crushed. LOL

LOL, sometimes they actually expect me to "work" at work. You really need to stop tninking about me in your homo/spanking fantasies, it's not going to happen, I'm a happily married man. If I was a MMM or HCI sympathizer you would be the perfect poster boy for it. I can see ya now in your crusty civies sitting around your trailer or shack surrounded by loaded guns saying things like:

(best redneck drawl here) " I tole that boy not to touch mah gun ...he nowed better" "I don git it...cain't believe it." " I shoulda wupped him more." "To bad bout that dead boy...he was a good boy..the lord must bin callin him home"
(my thanks to Lee for that piece)

Alright gunslinger, no disrespect intended, it's all in good fun. I'm done playing with you, it sounds like you're getting pissed and with your advanced age it could lead to a heart attack or something. I'm glad your kids made it to adulthood and wish them and you well. BTW my wife has her own gun safe so she has no need to get in mine. And if you actually read my post before yours, you would have seen that yes I do keep the large knives, poisons, and other things away from my kids as well. I can't guarantee that they will make it to adulthood but I can do a few things to help.

I know most of you think nothing will happen to your kids and it only happens to other people. One of my close friends was unfortunatly a statistic, his son was shot by a younger son with a loaded handgun that he found in nightstand drawer, gun was normally kept out of reach on a closet shelf but the father had not put it up that morning. The 3 year old boy found the gun and pointed it at the head of the 5 yr old brother and pulled the trigger. The mother was distracted by the mailman for less then 2 minutes. Gun was loaded, chamber loaded, no safety (Glock), 5 yr old dead. Too late for any ass-whupings or training when they are dead. Training is great but does not really work on young kids. If they aren't old enough to wipe their butts they pretty much can't handle the gun saftey training either but are big enough and strong enough to pull a trigger. Most of you realize this (by your responses), some of you, well I just hope you or someone you love never become a statistic.
Peace, out.

I subscribed to the school of thought that you teach them to respect your privacy and you show them what it's all about so there is no mystique about it, hence no sneak peeks when you are not around.
Result: My son figured he knew what he was doing and showed his less than knowledgeable friends my guns as a brag.
I saw that things weren't right and bought a safe.
My (Ex) wife had a key for access for other items but being lazy, she "hid" it in the gun room instead of always carrying it.
Result: Son finds it, continues his explorations with the guns and gets away with it for some time because I was now asleep at the wheel.
I was pretty tough on my son, so fear is not the answer. He's 30 now and I'm happy that he didn't get hurt because of my/our negligence.
Get a safe, ask yourself if your partner can be trusted to be as vigilant as you, if not no access. If anything it's best to be more cautious today than ever. Your kids may be completely trustworthy, are their friends?
Are yours? You don't want to lose your kids or your financial well being for the price of a safe.

I keep them locked up in a safe, not so much because of my kids, but because of other kids that hang around.  I do believe that education is the best approach towards gun safety.
Airborne

I keep them locked up in a safe, not so much because of my kids, but because of other kids that hang around.  I do believe that education is the best approach towards gun safety.
Airborne

I also grew up in a house where guns weren't keeped locked up. They generally weren't loaded, but the ammo was right there next to them.
Me and my brother were raised with respect for my dads guns, and were given BB guns at an early age.
No bullet holes in either one of us.

Well put Bobby V.

I solved that problem by giving each kid their own gun, a .22 rifle and I make them clean them regularly so that handling them is almost boring. But yes I have a locked cabinet for protection from burgalars.

Keep talking. You sound more and more like a liberal shill every second.