It's amazing to me that this summer has flown by so quickly, but the reality is, that it is nearly back to school time. This seems like a natural time for me to talk about kids and guns. The reality is, that if you want to keep your kids safe this school year you should be a huge proponent of firearms safety classes for your kids. For all kids.
I won't begin to discuss the fact that most massacres that happen in this country are all done in gun free zones, many of them being our schools. I won't even harp on the basic fact that criminals by definition just don't follow laws. I want to address the issue from a completely different standpoint. I am however, going to start by making some basic assumptions. I am going to assume that most people are like me, and love their kids and want to keep them safe.
For most people, it makes perfect sense that if you want to lower pregnancy rates you need to educate your kids about sex. If you want to keep them from being addicted to drugs you need to educate them about drugs. Got A problem with underage drinking; or drinking and driving? Education is always the answer. Extrapolate that out and try and have a gun safety class at your child’s school, see what happens. Guns are the one subject in our culture that is taboo in any company, but try and mix guns and kids and people lose their minds. Putting these two things together is the definition of taboo. Or is it?
Young people LOVE guns. Guns are in all the most popular video-games and movies. We tell our youth that our soldiers are the true heroes of this country, and we are right. But then we turn around and tell them that guns are bad. Talk about mixed messages. Their favorite movies stars, all carry guns in the movies they watch. The soldiers marching in the parade and even the local cop that we tell our really young people are their protectors, all carry a gun. But then we tell them guns are bad – end of discussion. Does this actually make sense to anyone but the idiots pushing gun control (the emphasis being on control) like the moms demand action folks. Those people don't actually have any experience with guns themselves outside of seeing one on a screen, and we are in danger of letting these people dictate to the general populace of how and what to teach our kids about guns.
I know plenty of people who claim to be scared of guns. Fear comes from ignorance. I know a lot of things that can hurt our kids. Sure, guns are up near the top of the list, right next to knives, fire, water, and right at the top, cars. How many kids will die this year, because they did something stupid in a car? Or maybe because they were inexperienced? It will happen...a lot. It is a tragedy. But every year we continue to teach our kids how to drive. I promise you this, that if we teach kids about guns and how to handle them responsibly that some will do stupid things with them, that they will act irresponsibly no matter how much we try to get them not to. I know this as sure as I know, that this next prom season there will be a group of kids that die in a car accident because they were drinking and doing stupid things in a car. Unfortunately there will most likely be many groups of kids that die in car accidents this year. I did the research because my daughter will be getting her license in a very short time. Am I scared of this? A little. What I know, is that I have done all I know to do to educate her, and prepare her for this dangerous and unforgiving task.
My daughters both shoot very well and are extremely safe with any gun they touch. My wife and I carry a gun every time we are legally able to do so. We reiterate over and over the four safety rules and have pounded into their heads, (and ours) how potentially dangerous a gun can be. Does this mean that they will never make a mistake or never do anything stupid? No. I can't guarantee any such thing. I consider myself a good driver, but I have made mistakes while driving, even caused an accident where I was injured. We all have done stupid things, and made mistakes. What I do know for sure, is that I will not allow Paul Walker and the fast and the furious movies to be my daughters primary source for drivers education any more than I would allow Tom Cruise and the mission impossible movies to be their primary source of education for their firearms training. I think even the idiot moms demanding action might think of that as irresponsible.
Many people aren't worried about it because they may not own a gun. Not teaching your kids about firearms because you don't own one, is akin to not teaching your kid to swim, because you don't have a pool in your backyard. How many kids drown each year? Do you keep your kids away from water because water is dangerous? Or do you teach your kids to swim and teach them the importance of NOT acting irresponsibly around water. My greatest fear, when it comes to guns, is not the gun in the hand of my daughter, but a gun in the hand of the kid whose mom demanded some action. A kid who is taught that guns are bad, but plays Medal of Honor and watches Sons of Anarchy every week. A kid who thinks guns are some cool toy and makes him a bad-ass. A kid that has no idea about the four safety rules or how to handle a gun or to keep himself or those around him safe with a potentially dangerous item.
Fear is the evil that exists and what fuels the fire for the gun control crowd. Fear is a powerful motivator. But I think love can conquer fear. And if you love your kids the way I love mine, I am hoping you will fight to get them trained in how to safely handle a gun. I would hope that if you are truly afraid, that you will model the behavior that you want to see in your child and learn yourself. Learn, educate and become a force that dispels the fear. I get that it isn't going to be everyone’s cup of tea. But just like swimming, I truly believe it is a life skill that should be taught to everyone. Only through education and experience can we allow everyone the resources to draw upon to make the right decisions when they are around a firearm. Anything else is quite frankly totally irresponsible.
Back to school. Children and firearms education.
in General Discussion
Posted
It's amazing to me that this summer has flown by so quickly, but the reality is, that it is nearly back to school time. This seems like a natural time for me to talk about kids and guns. The reality is, that if you want to keep your kids safe this school year you should be a huge proponent of firearms safety classes for your kids. For all kids.
I won't begin to discuss the fact that most massacres that happen in this country are all done in gun free zones, many of them being our schools. I won't even harp on the basic fact that criminals by definition just don't follow laws. I want to address the issue from a completely different standpoint. I am however, going to start by making some basic assumptions. I am going to assume that most people are like me, and love their kids and want to keep them safe.
For most people, it makes perfect sense that if you want to lower pregnancy rates you need to educate your kids about sex. If you want to keep them from being addicted to drugs you need to educate them about drugs. Got A problem with underage drinking; or drinking and driving? Education is always the answer. Extrapolate that out and try and have a gun safety class at your child’s school, see what happens. Guns are the one subject in our culture that is taboo in any company, but try and mix guns and kids and people lose their minds. Putting these two things together is the definition of taboo. Or is it?
Young people LOVE guns. Guns are in all the most popular video-games and movies. We tell our youth that our soldiers are the true heroes of this country, and we are right. But then we turn around and tell them that guns are bad. Talk about mixed messages. Their favorite movies stars, all carry guns in the movies they watch. The soldiers marching in the parade and even the local cop that we tell our really young people are their protectors, all carry a gun. But then we tell them guns are bad – end of discussion. Does this actually make sense to anyone but the idiots pushing gun control (the emphasis being on control) like the moms demand action folks. Those people don't actually have any experience with guns themselves outside of seeing one on a screen, and we are in danger of letting these people dictate to the general populace of how and what to teach our kids about guns.
I know plenty of people who claim to be scared of guns. Fear comes from ignorance. I know a lot of things that can hurt our kids. Sure, guns are up near the top of the list, right next to knives, fire, water, and right at the top, cars. How many kids will die this year, because they did something stupid in a car? Or maybe because they were inexperienced? It will happen...a lot. It is a tragedy. But every year we continue to teach our kids how to drive. I promise you this, that if we teach kids about guns and how to handle them responsibly that some will do stupid things with them, that they will act irresponsibly no matter how much we try to get them not to. I know this as sure as I know, that this next prom season there will be a group of kids that die in a car accident because they were drinking and doing stupid things in a car. Unfortunately there will most likely be many groups of kids that die in car accidents this year. I did the research because my daughter will be getting her license in a very short time. Am I scared of this? A little. What I know, is that I have done all I know to do to educate her, and prepare her for this dangerous and unforgiving task.
My daughters both shoot very well and are extremely safe with any gun they touch. My wife and I carry a gun every time we are legally able to do so. We reiterate over and over the four safety rules and have pounded into their heads, (and ours) how potentially dangerous a gun can be. Does this mean that they will never make a mistake or never do anything stupid? No. I can't guarantee any such thing. I consider myself a good driver, but I have made mistakes while driving, even caused an accident where I was injured. We all have done stupid things, and made mistakes. What I do know for sure, is that I will not allow Paul Walker and the fast and the furious movies to be my daughters primary source for drivers education any more than I would allow Tom Cruise and the mission impossible movies to be their primary source of education for their firearms training. I think even the idiot moms demanding action might think of that as irresponsible.
Many people aren't worried about it because they may not own a gun. Not teaching your kids about firearms because you don't own one, is akin to not teaching your kid to swim, because you don't have a pool in your backyard. How many kids drown each year? Do you keep your kids away from water because water is dangerous? Or do you teach your kids to swim and teach them the importance of NOT acting irresponsibly around water. My greatest fear, when it comes to guns, is not the gun in the hand of my daughter, but a gun in the hand of the kid whose mom demanded some action. A kid who is taught that guns are bad, but plays Medal of Honor and watches Sons of Anarchy every week. A kid who thinks guns are some cool toy and makes him a bad-ass. A kid that has no idea about the four safety rules or how to handle a gun or to keep himself or those around him safe with a potentially dangerous item.
Fear is the evil that exists and what fuels the fire for the gun control crowd. Fear is a powerful motivator. But I think love can conquer fear. And if you love your kids the way I love mine, I am hoping you will fight to get them trained in how to safely handle a gun. I would hope that if you are truly afraid, that you will model the behavior that you want to see in your child and learn yourself. Learn, educate and become a force that dispels the fear. I get that it isn't going to be everyone’s cup of tea. But just like swimming, I truly believe it is a life skill that should be taught to everyone. Only through education and experience can we allow everyone the resources to draw upon to make the right decisions when they are around a firearm. Anything else is quite frankly totally irresponsible.