....For those with kids...

[backnblack]

My oldest boy has his resident FL Permit and 2 handguns
Youngest boy shoots with me regularly and is planning his permit and handgun purchase for 1/12 when he turns 21
Youngest girl shoots and is looking at joining the Marines, Oldest lives with her mother and has never handled a firearm.

[MrBi11]

delete, double post

[PowerPM]

The idea of testing the kid with a disabled, unloaded weapon is a fantastic idea... Thanks.

My wife and I have a philosophy of no toys guns in the home as well so the boy doesn't have the opportunity to be confused by if it is a toy or real.

[thebearpack]

My son turns 7 soon and I've been talking with him about guns for a couple years now. My philosophy was to make firearms an open and inviting topic to take the mystery out of them. I've said this many times before on this forum but my son knows that if he wants to see one of my guns I'll drop anything I'm doing and show him and whenever he would ask I would also used that time to discuss proper handling and safety (all in baby steps). Now there is very little curiosity left and he only occasionally asks to see them because he knows what they were all about and he's seen & held them all before.

[legendarylorot]

My wife and I have a philosophy of no toys guns in the home as well so the boy doesn't have the opportunity to be confused by if it is a toy or real.

I've done the opposite. It doesn't matter if he gets confused whether a toy gun is real or not at his age: even toy guns don't get pointed at anything not specifically designated a target. That said, at two my son was capable and practiced at telling them apart. It isn't difficult. Adults just tend to underestimate the learning capacity of their children and fail to utilize that potential.

[Grizz2720]

My son was probably 4 my daughter was 1 or 2 when they were introduced to guns. I probably got the guns out for hunting and they saw them. The rules were simple. They could see the guns or handle them anytime all they had to do was ask and I would get them out. They rules for shooting were simple. If you could pick up the gun and aim it safely then you could shoot that gun the next time we went shooting. We never had any problems with either kid.

[HSR47]

Im sure many members here have children and such..Do you regularly talk about firearms with them?..talk about carrying them?..safety?..so on and so forth..

My older brother and I do not yet have children, but we, at 22 and 26, have spent the last few years increasing our *father's* knowledge of firearms, and carry thereof.

Late in January, I actually got the father to carry first time, although this has yet to be repeated.

...Adults just tend to underestimate the learning capacity of their children and fail to utilize that potential.

QFT.

[BioHazard74D]

I've done the opposite. It doesn't matter if he gets confused whether a toy gun is real or not at his age: even toy guns don't get pointed at anything not specifically designated a target. That said, at two my son was capable and practiced at telling them apart. It isn't difficult. Adults just tend to underestimate the learning capacity of their children and fail to utilize that potential.

I agree, my son is almost three and knows the difference between toys and real guns, We've also taught him not to point his toy guns at people and other basic gun safety that a toddler can grasp.

These vids are a little lengthy but I highly recommend them for anyone with or around kids.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrorxilPMFo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixNNs...feature=fvwrel

[JeannieBmine]

I agree, my son is almost three and knows the difference between toys and real guns, We've also taught him not to point his toy guns at people and other basic gun safety that a toddler can grasp.

It was over the weekend that I was walking my dogs when two neighborhood kids, roughly ages 5 and 3, were playing outside with their toy guns, when they pointed and aimed them directly at me and pretended to shoot me. No parents were around. What a teachable moment that could have been for a parent.

[legendarylorot]

I agree, my son is almost three and knows the difference between toys and real guns, We've also taught him not to point his toy guns at people and other basic gun safety that a toddler can grasp.

These vids are a little lengthy but I highly recommend them for anyone with or around kids.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrorxilPMFo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixNNs...feature=fvwrel

Good videos. Listening to NutnFancy right now, and he just brought up that locking firearms isn't the best option by itself. I have to agree. At the age of 10 months, my son not only figured out how to use keys, but had figured out which key goes to which lock. At four, he figured out on his own how to bypass needing keys in many instances. Kids really are smart. If they can get around the "lock it up" laws before they can talk, certainly they can learn safety by the time they're strong enough to overcome a standard trigger pull.

The multilayered approaches are best, simply because any one philosophy doesn't cover all the bases. By all means lock up your firearm, keep the munitions separate, hide them in a 3 ton safe with a fingerprint lock in the back of your closet. But your kids WILL find them. What will you do then? What about only training? The chances are much greater that you'll be fine, but everyone makes mistakes, particularly while learning. More than one approach is needed to prevent all possible scenarios. Otherwise you're just leaving security holes, and anyone will tell you that's hardly wise.