Cap Guns & kids.

[Teresa]

I really don't know where to put this.( maybe I should ask the "King") ..  NOT!
But since gun control issues are posted here.. I thought it might be the best place.

On one of the 2nd amendments and gun forums I frequent there is a thread going about Utah banning toy guns.

I thought I would share this with you. ..as it reminded me of a few things.

When Marshal and I was in Missouri last week,  we were just poking around in a an old five and dime store, there was a small boy about 6 years old.. he wanted a cap gun that used the roll caps. His mother( who was about 30) vehemently said NO.. he was NOT having any kind of gun..and she walked around the corner.. Well his grandma was standing there and she and I locked eyes..and I kinda sadly shook my head and sighed..and I walked by the little boy ( who was holding this gun and looking at it) and kinda ruffled his hair and smiled at him.. and then looked back at his grandma..
I moved down the aisle  and was looking at some things and she said.. " you can have the gun. " her daughter came around the corner and said,"No Mother.. he CAN NOT have the gun". I will not have any kind of gun in my house. "
The grandma looked at her and said.. "He can have the gun and play with it at my house and leave it at my house".  
The little boy smiled so big at his grandma and his mom with that look of "can I for real have this?" look.
The young mother looked at her mother and said" well he has to keep it at your house"..
After the mother walked away.. I touched the grandma on the shoulder and said" good for you".
She just smiled at me..

I bet that little boy will have the time of his life playing with his cap gun at his grandmas...

A few weeks ago we were out camping and Ashley my 6 yr old granddaughter was playing with her gun and the million of those &*%^$#@ caps..( you know the kind)  that you have to wind inside. She had shot everything in sight and looked up at me and said,
" Mee Maw? Don't you just love the smell of gun powder?"
 I just burst out laughing and said ' I sure do honey".. hahahaha
That was so cute..and I guess the cap gun smell was gun powder to her.. LOL

Mason. my 17 month old grandson was at my house the other day and our loading blocks were on the table and he saw them and so I gave him one with a few bullets and he had a great time 'loading and unloading " them. LOL

Gotta start them young......................

[Diane Amberg]

The only restriction we had as kids with cap guns was to never, ever aim them at any living thing, ever. Same with any "gun like" toy, even our space ray guns.

[Lookatmeknow!!]

Do you know, I don't think they can even have water guns at school any more.  When I was teaching, I had to take water guns that were given away as birthday handouts.  But you might check and see.

[srkruzich]

Teresa, I have raised 6 kids. All of which had guns around them from birth.  I never had to lock my guns, never had to hide them.  THe reason?  When they were babies, around 9 mo old, i would load one up in a backpack on my back and go huntin.  I hunted with my kids.  I would load up the baby josh, and john and holly would walk with me.  We would go out and shoot a mule deer and all of us would drag it back to the house. 

The kids were 3, 18 mo, and 9 mo.     John would pull holly in the sled, and i would carry josh on my back. When we got a deer, we would load it on the sled and daddy would put john and holly on top of the deer and pull them all back.

As i got more kids, we all went hunting usually. Sometimes some of the kids wanted to stay in.
But all of them learned early on that a gun is a tool that kills.  It doesn't matter what it kills, just that it kills.
Now they all got to handle a gun as small children.  When they were 3 years old we would sit on the porch and i would load up the 22 and let them fire it.  THey learned by age 7 how to hit the targets accurately and today i have two marines, and one soldier that are marksmen. They were marksmen before they went into the service.
My adopted daughter can shoot anything. She never misses at any range up to 600 yards.  My adopted son could drop a deer at 300 yards in a dead run.  My younest son is just as good but he's like me.  I don't like to kill anything unless i have to. That includes deer   Only for meat. 

The reason i never had to lock any weapon with these stupid gun locks, is that my kids respected weapons.  THey were taught early that they were weapons AND the MYSTERY of a item that is not to be touched was taken away.  That stopped the sneaking off and grabbing a loaded gun. 

A unloaded gun, or a locked gun is nothing but a useless club.  Ironically i never lost any of my kids to a loaded gun, or a gun accident.  But i did lose my oldest son to a baseball bat in which someone beat him to death with. Never caught the murderer.

IN my family  no one has ever been killed accidentally by a gun, no one has been the victim either.  Since were all armed to the teeth, we take our safety seriously, and since the police cannot and are not commissioned to protect the public, that is our job to secure our own safety. 

[Teresa]

My heartfelt condolences to you for the loss of your son. What a nightmare that must have been. 
I'm so sorry you had to have that in your life. But I'm sure the memories of him are alive and well in your heart.
Thanks for sharing your story..
I used to hunt all the time. Loved it.
I still dove hunt. Part of me likes it.. part of me doesn't.. .( but secretly it really bothers me )
I don't deer hunt anymore. Not that I won't if I need the meat.. but I would rather go with the guys and video their hunt.. That way I get to hunt with my camera..and I am the one that doesn't have to pull the trigger. LOL
( I have kinda lost my "grit" so to speak.
Guess that is why I love competition and target shooting.

[pam]

Man, that's an awful thing to have happen to you and your family, I'm very sorry.....My Dad taught me and my sisters to respect his guns and to use them and I taught my boys and my daughter the same way. It's somthin everybody used to do.......

[Catwoman]

You're so right, Pam...I have relatives that have wandered all over this earth and they report that ALL children, regardless of where they're at, play some form of "cowboys and indians", whatever form that takes in their country (and all children have that "nah-nah-nah-nahnah" sing-song thing, too...wonder if that is just a genetic thing with humans?).  I, personally, have always just laughed with I see parents getting all neurotic over play guns...if you just ignore it (but also make sure they don't point them at anyone, so they learn that lesson young), they eventually grow out of the propensity to want to play around with play guns.  The more you harp on it, the more they're going to get fascinated with them and think, "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOhhhhhhhhhhhh...these must be REALLY neat...see how wierded out my parents are getting???". 

[srkruzich]

You're so right, Pam...I have relatives that have wandered all over this earth and they report that ALL children, regardless of where they're at, play some form of "cowboys and indians", whatever form that takes in their country (and all children have that "nah-nah-nah-nahnah" sing-song thing, too...wonder if that is just a genetic thing with humans?).  I, personally, have always just laughed with I see parents getting all neurotic over play guns...if you just ignore it (but also make sure they don't point them at anyone, so they learn that lesson young), they eventually grow out of the propensity to want to play around with play guns.  The more you harp on it, the more they're going to get fascinated with them and think, "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOhhhhhhhhhhhh...these must be REALLY neat...see how wierded out my parents are getting???". 

You know when i was a kid, we had cap guns, bb guns, real guns.  I think i got my first .22 at 7 years old. 
But i was not to use it without an adult around.  I was around 10 years old when i got my 410 shotgun and went squirrel hunting and  rabbit hunting by myself.  Used to wander all over the farm and other peoples farms. 

While i was allowed to do taht because i was responsible, i think what really taught me that guns kill was being 8 and 9 years old we used to have bb gun wars.  We used to build up our bunkers and walls and have wars in the neighborhood.  We learned real quick that those ole daisy bb guns hurt when you get hit.  It clicked in our heads at that time that if a bb hurts this bad, imagine what a bullet would feel like.

When i was in 6th grade i used to take my .22 to school with me.  I would drop it off at the principals office and we had a target range in the back of the school where we would shoot.  We had a retired marine that taught science classes there and he would teach us how to shoot after school.  I could go buy a box of 500 rounds for .40 cents and shoot for a couple days. 

WE NEVER and i mean NEVER had a problem at school with the guns.  MOST kids were respectful of guns and if you had one and knew how to shoot one, you were like popular in school.

[Teresa]

You can't even have a pocketful knife with you at school now......

[srkruzich]

You can't even have a pocketful knife with you at school now......

Uhmm or keychains.

I went to pick up my kids from school one day, drove my pickup truck in which i carry my rifle with me, alsso sometiems i carry my revolver.  IF i had not have personally known the school resource officer, as well as my oldest son being a marine they would have succeeded in arreesting me for driving onto property to get my kids. 

I essentially told them to stick it in their ear, that i had not committed a crime and i am a free law abiding citizen that has a constitutional right to own and carry a firearm. I never even entered a building with it. They tried to give me crap over driving onto the property.

One thing that surprised me moving here from georgia is that i have heard that you can't have a loaded gun in your vehicle.  In Georgia the vehicle is a extension of your home and thereby you are allowed to carry a firearm loaded in your vehicle concealed. 

Its amazing that anyone would restrict someone from carrying protection.  My guns are like my american express card.  Never leave home without it