Handguns and small children

This morning my wife shared a story with me and after reading it I felt the need to express my thoughts on the matter. It is an on-going debate over the ownership of guns in the home and in particular homes that have children.

Parenting Advice Columnist

All too often, we hear about a young child being injured or losing their life as a result of being shot. In the story linked above, the shooting victim is 17 months old and the shooter is only 3 years old. It is hard to believe that it could happen but it did. Although she was not seriously hurt, the article did bring up the intriguing thought that "guns in the house and small children don't mix".

And thus, I add my thoughts on the matter. As someone that has a career in Law Enforcement, I am issued a handgun for the purpose of performing my daily duties. That weapon comes home with me every night after work and leaves with me every morning when I go to work. That is a part of my safety package in my career field. And I have been properly trained on what I need to do with that weapon. Now do not get me wrong, I am not saying this gentlemen did not know what he was doing with that weapon. I am not saying that at all! And there is the old saying that accidents even happen with the over confidence of some firearms experts.

Here is what I am saying, you can have a mix of guns in the home and small children if it is done correctly. I have five children in my home from age 1 to 11 and from the time in which I started my career, I have made it perfectly clear to each of them that when I come home from work what is expected. The expectation is that daddy needs 5 minutes to take all of his equipment and properly secure his handgun for the night. My children have already learned from me that my handgun is not a toy and should be treated as a dangerous weapon. They know that they are NOT to touch it! And the only time in which they see my handgun is after I have pulled it out of my lock-box and have placed it into my holster. Aside from that, they do not see my handgun and it is properly locked inside a lock-box and out of their reach.

So yes, you can have a mix of guns in a home with small children so long as you take the steps to ensure the safety of the children and teach them at an early age what to do when they come across a hand-gun. Education is IMPORTANT! My 5 year old makes it a point to keep our 1 year old out of daddy's way so that he can make his handgun safe before letting her interact with daddy.