The pro-gun mom goes on to explain how we can easily move from "guns as toys" to "guns as tools," and from there it's a cinch to teach kids the Eddie Eagle rules.Guns As Toys
Whether or not you think toy guns are a good idea, they are here to stay and they are a very big part of the marketed entertainment industry, from cap guns with cowboy hats to first person shooter video games. Guns are sold to our kids as fun and not deadly in the virtual world, this can make it harder for kids to understand the mortal gravity of real guns in the real world.Let’s face it, guns are attractive to lots of children.Watch a group of children playing and it’s likely that some of them will be playing a hunting or war game before it’s over. Toy guns have long been favourites with my boys and instead of banning them completely, we’ve taken the toy versions as an opportunity to discuss the moral implications of the real thing and to teach basic gun safety.I would much rather control the environment in which my children encounter and practice with toy guns than ban them altogether and have them unprepared when they are faced with the real thing.Toy guns can provide many teachable moments.
Here's what I had to say:
You must be out of your mind if you think guns are OK as toys and
provide teachable moments AND that you can teach kids the Eddie Eagle
rules.
Haven’t you seen it in your own kids that the natural curiosity and
resistance to obedience is too much for all that “teaching” nonsense.
There’s only one thing that keeps kids safe and that’s parental
supervision. You don’t seem to have the appropriate emphasis on that.
You may have misread her. She is using toy guns to teach gun safety. What would you have her do? Use the real thing?
ReplyDeleteMoonshine7102
He'd rather keep his kid in the dark on gun safety. Who knows what will happen if they should come across one on their own. It's like rolling the dice with your kids' safety.
DeleteMoon, I think you read it wrong. First she encouraged her kids to play with guns because it's inevitable, then she tried to turn it into a lesson of gun safety.
DeleteI don't preach keeping kids in the dark, how could that possibly be accomplished anyway? I believe in down-playing the guns-as-toys attitude that many people go in for.
I must be reading a different article. The one I'm reading says she encouraged her kids to play with TOY guns, with the express purpose of teaching gun safety. I am unable to see how this could be objectionable.
DeleteMoonshine7102
Mike, I did not grow up in a firearms household. From the age of 5 onward, I was raised by my mother, who is no fan of weapons or violence. She didn't buy me toy guns (we were poor, so I didn't get much in the way of new toys in general). My mother had absolutely no "guns as toys" attitude at all.
DeleteBut nonetheless, I played with toy guns all the time: Sticks. A broom handle. A large letter L from a playset I had. You don't need literal toy guns to "play guns", and I would say that (boys at least) playing with toy guns is inevitable.
Obviously inevitable if you encourage or purchase toy guns for them, but failing to do so, they will still find a way to play with toys guns.
Not all boys, Guav. That's more pro-gun bullshit propaganda.
DeleteMikeb, I can't speak to boys raised in Europe, but if you see American boys who are free to play as they wish, you'll find that what Guav said is true.
DeleteSome do, it happens, but it's not the norm like you guys are trying to say.
DeleteMikeb, what other toys do you disapprove of to use to teach?
ReplyDeleteorlin sellers
You hate guns, Mikeb. We know that, so you needn't try to hide the fact. You're like white missionaries on Indian reservations who tried to ban the children from speaking their native language. You hope to cut off the transmission of knowledge. That goal will fail, since gun-owning parents aren't listening, and gun information is available all over the Internet.
ReplyDeleteGuns and kids don't mix. I've seen case after case where children who had been taught gun safety and even were avid hunters nonetheless used them carelessly, handled them without permission or supervision, or used them in an illegal manner, often with tragic consequences. Such was the case when a young friend of mine committed suicide (he and I had gone through training together at a Boy Scout shooting range and was from a pro-gun family). I can remember my own step-brother showing off my mother's loaded handgun to his friends when she wasn't home (which she kept loaded and unlocked under her mattress).
ReplyDeleteThat isn't to say, of course, that all kids are careless, but one thing that nearly all kids have in common is a natural curiosity and impetuousness. Even the most well-behaved kids will at times act out or act irresponsibly. Mix guns with that behavior and you have a potential lethal combination. Studies have shown that, when interviewed away from parents, the majority of kids in gun-owning families have handled their guns without permission, and the vast majority of teens know the combinations or where keys are kept to gun safes and lockboxes.
An outstanding parent will secure their firearms AND teach gun safety to small children. The rationale for securing firearms around small children is obvious. The rationale for teaching gun safety is that it is like an insurance policy. If your children ever come across a firearm that was not under your control, what they learn in gun safety should keep them safe.
DeleteThe two real problems are:
(1) Many people never teach their children gun safety ... and certainly not at an early enough age.
(2) Almost no one demonstrates the destructive capability of firearms to children in a way that instills the proper respect.
As for the second point, have children hear the blast of a gunshot with minimal hearing protection. Give them a sense of recoil ... in a safe manner of course. (For example a child could hold on to the adult's hands when the adult pulls the trigger.) And shoot some objects like containers filled with water so the children can see the ensuing explosion. That will instill the proper respect even in children as young as three years old. All but a child with the most serious of mental handicaps will grasp it.
Do what I said above and unintentional shootings will disappear.
And for concerns about children acting out or acting irresponsibly and handling their parents firearms, without permission, that were locked in boxes or safes, the solution is simple: parents can install a tamper evident seal on the safe or lock box. If the children open them, the parents will know it and can have the appropriate discussion and possible discipline for their children.
DeleteConsider this case, for instance, from my area, where a boy who LIVED at a gun range and had guns and gun safety as a major part of his family's life (the family managed the gun club) nonetheless handled a gun irresponsibly and shot his older brother to death.
ReplyDeletehttp://kidshootings.blogspot.com/2012/01/boy-living-at-gun-club-accidentally_10.html
Let's take two kids—one with firearm safety training, and one without. They each find a firearm in the bushes—which one is more likely to act dangerously with it? I'd say the one who has no knowledge of firearms, and has not had any teachings that tell him specifically to not pick up the gun, but to go and tell an adult.
DeleteDoes gun safety training guarantee that a child will never act irresponsibly or have a firearm accident? OF COURSE NOT. Nobody suggests that.
But I bet they reduce them.
The risk might be reduced, Guav, but is still too high for comfort. Why risk at all?
DeleteBecause firearms exist, and they are a reality of life in this country. So we can address the reality—and educate children about what to do if they encounter a firearm—or we can insist that guns shouldn't exist at all and neglect to educate them about safely dealing with firearms.
DeleteThe former—although no guarantee that accidents will not still happen—is clearly a better way to go about it, as opposed to the latter: opposing and obstructing effective firearm safety programs simply because you don't like the source (Eddie Eagle).
Since there are no safe storage laws on the books, but accidental firearms deaths have dropped by 70% since 1974 to an all time low, I can only assume that education in safe gun handling and storage practices have been very effective, and will hopefully continue to be so.
Why accept the risk? Because guns are a good thing, just like matches and beer and cars. Oregonian, if you'd get over your loathing of guns, you'd see that.
DeleteB.O. from Oregon insists on perfection. If anyone does something wrong, we all must be punished. He also worships the illusion of safety. What he fails to recognize is the value that firearms bring to our lives. He fails to understand that an interesting life is inherently dangerous. If he just wanted to make his choices and would leave us to make ours, I'd have no problem with that. But he advocates for taking away our rights. That we will never allow.
ReplyDelete"He fails to understand that an interesting life is inherently dangerous."
DeleteIt's no surprise that he doesn't understand this. He has never been exposed to an interesting life before.