Saturday, June 20, 2009

Q&A

To ask -- or not -- about guns in a playmate's home [More]
I know some gun owners bristle at this. It depends on how the question is posed, and the demeanor of the questioner.

I always encourage parents to make an effort to know the home conditions where they allow their kids to play. Are there any aggressive dogs? Does the place look like a dump? Do the parents look and act OK?

Answers to a direct question can be noncommittal:

I'm on top of the hazards in my home and we take care to provide a safe environment.

Depending on how you assess the situation, you can decide to share more information as appropriate. It may be a great opportunity to educate, or you may have a person you don't want your kid being anywhere near.

It's a two-way street.

You don't have guns in your home and proper training to know how and when to use them? How will you protect my child when he's in your care?

[Via Ed M]

2 comments:

Uncle Lar said...

I take it a step further. How can I possibly trust the safety of my kids (actually grandkids now) to someone who believes that they can magically segregate their children from the more than 250 million firearms in the US. And that's what anti gun families have chosen to do, keep their children ignorant of the basic skills necessary to act in a safe manner should they come in contact with a firearm. Smacks of a less than firm grip on reality to me.

Anonymous said...

I've been asked, answered affirmatively and elaborated only that the youngsters can not find 'em...(left unsaid the fact that the loaded weapon would be on my person) none of the inquisitive parents denied their progeny a visit to my premises.

Of course this is not NYC, CT, NJ, CA, OR, WA, DC, MD, MA, etc.

In each case the inquirer and I had some prior interaction but were still just acquaintances, after 15 yrs or so most would now be considered friends.