GeneticsDave said:
If you have a child in the home, you had better keep them guns under lock and key and make sure to train them in gun safety - you'd hate to have a tragic accident that you know could have been prevented.
+1
I had been getting pretty confident in my kids. All four of them know how to handle a gun and shoot, and the older three have passed their Hunter Safety course. So, lately I've stopped worrying about making sure all the guns were locked up.
Until last week.
My 10 year-old came to me and told me that Cade, my 15 year-old (who is impulsive, but should be the MOST trustworthy), had picked up my carry gun and LOOKED DOWN THE BARREL! :shock: He thought it was cool that he could see the bullet sitting there in firing position. Of course, seeing his example, my seven year-old had to go look as well. :disgusted:
So Cade got his butt kicked for the first time in quite a while. Hard. He's old enough that I rarely resort to corporal punishment, but I felt I had to make this point as clear as possible. Scared the crap out of me. The gun was in its holster (Serpa), so the trigger was well-protected, and I know there's no way it can go off, but, darn it! He KNOWS better than to treat deadly weapons casually! Dual safeties and covered trigger or not, you don't point a cocked, loaded, ready-to-fire gun at your HEAD!!!
After I cooled down a little, I had a talk with all four kids, re-emphasizing why the gun safety rules are so important (they all have them memorized, even the seven year-old). They seemed to get it, and I'm confident that it won't happen again.
But my guns are all locked up now.