There were not supposed to be any guns in the house. But 3-year-old Gerald Miranda found one and shot himself in the chest. Spider-Man costumes and toys were waiting for him under the Christmas tree.This was sent to me by WarOnGuns Correspondent Tony G, who adds:
Police have not determined who owned the pistol, and the family is struggling with the question of who would bring it into the house.
I know we that read your blogs are responsible gun owners but please lets warn people of the dangers of leaving your gun out if even for a few seconds.
Here's the thing, Tony. I don't know if we can fix this. A few random thoughts:
I agree, leaving a firearm where a 3-year-old can get to it is unconscionably negligent. How do you fix that?
We could talk training--which for a 3-year-old is problematic. For those older, there is Eddie Eagle, but our enemies turn people off to it using the "Joe Camel with feathers" pejorative. In some neighborhoods--I suspect most urban ones--NRA grassroots volunteers trying to provide such training would be unwelcome.
For families who aren't part of the educated community of gun owners, there isn't much they can turn to. Most mainstream sources of information--from police, to newspapers, to pediatricians, to schools --will tell you not to have a gun in the house in the first place (and we see from this story that was the assumed state of the house involved, although I reserve judgment on whether I believe that), or if you do, to keep it locked away, with ammunition under separate lock and key.
But, of course, we don't want to enable any more pitchfork murders...
There are those of us who have trained our children in responsible use and handling of firearms--starting very young and continuing development of skills at maturity-appropriate stages. I'm at a loss for what more we can do than that--except continue to espouse the truth about guns so that the curious, the motivated and the intellectually honest can learn more if they choose to.
Just finished reading "America Fights Back" and although some of the "stats" are dated a little, it explains how the antis ratchet-up their lies and bias towards guns of ALL types. You blogged about the book previously,thank-you!
ReplyDeleteIt has also led me to some other great books that I've seen before,but never read. But will now. The importance of SCOTUS hearing the case in March is monumental,to put it mildly! Merry Christmas to all the True Patriots who read WoG. May God Bless You and Yours in all that you do.
I use a quick acting gun safe from GunVault. It takes me less than a second to open it (I practice opening it), and my sidearm stays in there, loaded, unless it is on my hip. The safe itself is mounted to my bed frame so I can get at it quickly in the dark. It strikes a good balance between the safe storage of a home/self defense weapon and ease of access in an emergency. The safe itself cost me about $150.
ReplyDeleteThis would not have helped save the little boy in the post, since the family had already chosen to live without guns hence no measures had been taken to secure a firearm, but in places like CA, where lock up laws exist, a safe like that (which complies with CA law) would have allowed a 14 year old who could be trusted a means of getting to the weapon.
My suggestion is to not mystify guns to your children. I even tested my kids by leaving a gun lying where they could get it, and seeing what happened. They always would come to me and say "Dad, you left a gun over there". I would thank them, and praise them for telling me, and I would put it up. If they ever wanted to handle or shoot a gun, I let them. For gun handling at the house, I let them watch me unload it first, and then had them check again as soon as I handed it to them, and still made sure they handled it as if it were loaded. I let them see what a gun would do to various targets. Maybe my kids were exceptionally bright, but I think similar methods would work with most kids.
ReplyDeleteTwo words, dude: Parental Supervision.
ReplyDelete'Nuff said.
Currently there are more guns in civilian hands that at any time in our history, yet accidents resulting in death, especially for "children" (age 14 and under), are at the lowest they have been since we started counting.
ReplyDeleteThat said, when something like this happens, about all one can do is shrug one's shoulders and note that evolution is implacable.
Nimrod 45 is correct. That and training. My son is now 20 years old and the entire time he was growing up, loaded firearms were readily available in the house. Yet, in all the trouble he got into, he never messed with them once.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad what happened in the Miranda family. But the fault lies with the parents.
Being 6 Ft. 4 In., I just kept mine higher than the kids could reach. When each was old enough to understand, they went to the range for the watermelon demo.
ReplyDeleteNever had a problem and both of my 30 something kids CCW.