Do you carry

We're talking national, cultural issues. Individual anecdotes, even personal ones, shouldn't carry a lot of weight.

 

Growing up in the South means you are more likely to die due to firearms.

http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/ficap/resourcebook/Final%20Resource%20Book%20Updated%202009%20Section%201.pdf

 

Not everybody's parents and grandparents are as thorough in how they educate their children.

 

You used your Southern upbringing as a reason why you didn't think to play with guns. Now you're backtracking and saying it was your parents and grandparents who taught you firearms safety. Obviously, the Southern tradition seems to be teaching kids that it's OK to fool around with guns.

 

Key words in that sentence were "around guns and hunters."

I was lucky. The adults in my life were responsible gun owners. They taught me well. I've already begun teaching my 3-year-old the same lessons - if you see one of these get Daddy or Mommy immediately, don't touch it - even though all my firearms are in a locked gun safe in a locked closet.

 

this

 

Any parent who owns and uses firearms for hunting, sport shooting or defense should instruct their children from an early age onward about firearm safety and potential dangers.

I don't worry a lick about my kids when it comes to firearms. They shoot, know the ramifications and also know not to mess around with them if I have one in my garage, vehicle or office. I'm more concerned about their stupid friends, which is why my firearms are secured and I've talked with them before about firearms safety.

It's pointless for the back-and-forth on this, too. Ace and others like him have their views, Inky and I and other gun owners have ours. Neither's going to budge.

 

Not expecting you to budge. But it's the illusion of control. The idea that everyone whose kid ever got hurt in a gun accident somehow must have done something differently than what you do.

It's a risk. There's a non-zero chance that your child will die at the hands of that gun. But if you feel that the risk is worth it, that's your business. And I don't mean that in a callous way. Guns are tools, and they serve a lot of useful purposes. There's a non-zero chance that my son will die in a car accident, but I'm not giving up highway driving.

 

I am not afraid of guns. I have taken my kids to the shooting range several times.

I just think a handgun is a poor bet for self-protection for most people and that if you read newspapers you'd find stories where people are "accidentally" shot by guns outnumber the times where guns fend off would-be rapists and murderers by about 100-1.

I don't think there is any question about that. Is there?

 

My daughter has a greater chance of being injured falling off the swing set in the backyard than at the hands of my firearms. As I said, we exercise extreme caution when it comes to how and where they are stored.

 

I'd rather have a firearm than a lamp in my home or a flashlight under the seat of my vehicle, if I don't have one in my pocket.

Most people who own firearms don't practice enough and definitely don't practice under duress like when the adrenaline's pumping. But if you're going to own firearms for whatever reason, it should be important enough to learn everything you can about them, be proficient with them and safely store them.

So it's easy to say that gun owners should practice more frequently. But it's true because they should.

As for the 'accidental' shootings, sure we read and hear more about those. They're splashy news. I'd like to hear and read more about the law-abiding gun owners who successfully defend themselves, family and home with firearms, too. Those don't get reported enough and typically are "Man survives home invasion" or "Woman fends off would-be rapist" without details of their defense.

 

Really? I feel like those are reported pretty heavily.