From: pilchuck!phred!harryb@cs.UMD.EDU (harry barnett)
Newsgroups: rec.guns
Subject: Re: A gun in the home....
Date: 16 Dec 92 14:34:22 GMT

In article AA29727@cherokee.advtech.uswest.com, kdlin@advtech.uswest.com (David Lin) writes:
#In article <22774@drutx.ATT.COM> ljb@parkcity.dr.att.com (BLO54620-BonhamLJ(DR2194)240) writes:
##
##In article <9212041837.AA19437@mimsy.cs.UMD.EDU>, C08926RC@WUVMD.Wustl.Edu (Rob) writes:
##|> Sorry, didn't know how to title this one...
##|> 
##|> Here's the situation.  I have a 17 month old daughter.  ...
##
##
##Absolutely instruct your daughter!  Educate her about not to touch the guns
##unless you are present as soon as she understands language.  ...
#
#In my opinion, it may not be very difficult to teach a kid of that age.

It wasn't difficult with with either my daughter or my son, both at age
4 (now 15 and 9), and the method I used may be useful to others.  I
took a one gallon clear polyethylene milk/jug, filled it with water,
capped it, suspended it from a cord at about chest height, and hit it
with a .45 ACP JHP from about 25 feet.  (It should be hit close to
center, or the effect will not be nearly as impressive.)  The
demonstration was preceded by a discussion that this would be a
demonstration of what a bullet from a loaded gun will do.  After the
demonstration, I emphasized that the bullet would do something very
similar to a human body in terms they could understand.  (yeah, I know,
technically it really doesn't, but remember we're trying to make
BELIEVERS here.)  If hit right, the jug disappears in a suddenly
appearing vapor cloud, and a few shreds of the jug will be left hanging
from the cord.

The girl was startled enough to be rocked back on her heels, grabbed my
leg, buried her head in it and started crying.  After being soothed,
she got the post-demo lecture.  The boy jumped about a foot straight
up, and came down wide-eyed with his mouth in a big "O".  Neither kid
has ever shown the slightest inclination to monkey with guns
unsupervised (except the boy, once), and the girl is almost completely
disinterested (although she is a reasonably good shot).  Nor are they
afraid of them.

This is NOT to say that as the boy becomes a teen, I won't have to face
the *REAL* trouble noted in the posting, although I have seen no signs
of it yet.  If you cannot trust the child, I don't think any amount of
instruction will improve the situation.  IMHO, the only thing you can
do is with an untrustworthy person is to keep guns completely locked
away out of sight and out of mind, and even then, there are no
guarantees that they won't get their hands on one, if not at your house
then elsewhere.  The simple rules that the NRA teaches children to
follow when encountering unsupervised guns are:  "Don't touch it!",
"Leave the area!", "Tell an adult!", but again, the child has to be
trustworthy for this to take effect.

Any gun in our house intended for home defense is loaded.  The children
are instructed to never, repeat NEVER, to talk about or discuss our
firearms with anyone else.  They are not to touch them or point out
where they are to anyone.  They are never to touch them without their
mother or myself present, and then only with our permission.  This
instruction has been violated only once, when the boy (8YO) tried to
demonstrate the "awesome" sound of the pump action of a Model 1897
Winchester riot gun (unloaded) which I had not put away.  He never knew
his old man or his mom could move so fast coming from opposite
directions a couple of rooms away.  The speed with which we appeared
and the tone of our voice was enough to frighten him out of his wits.
"But, Dad, I KNEW it was unloaded, and I just wanted to show Ashley how
it sounded just like T2!"  Corrective instruction occurred
immediately.  My carelessness allowed the incident to happen, and it
increased my alertness about the matter.

If anyone can tell me how to teach little boys (from 8-80 :-) NOT to
show off for little girls, in the words of Ross Perot, "I'm all ears!"

OBTW, anything in our house that LOOKS like a gun, IS.  Guns are tools,
not toys, and the children are repeatedly reminded of this.

harryb@phred
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Brittanius (shocked):  Caesar, this is not proper.
Theodotus (outraged):  How?
Caesar (recovering his self possession):  Pardon him, Theodotus:  He is
a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and islands are
the laws of nature.

		--Caesar and Cleopatra, Act II, George Bernard Shaw
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