Quote:
Originally posted by dank4meh
Safety wise, the situation should not be the child proofing of your gun it should be the GUN PROOFING of your child.
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Dank, your entire post was great but I want to single out this statement as it is so incredibly true.
My family is very pro-gun and pro-hunting. Since a young age I have had a gun (air pellet rifle, and then later a .22 at about 10 years old) and been to the range with my family and hunting many times to shoot it. I received my firearm safety certificate at about age 14, and I was taught at a very young age that guns are not toys and that you have to be very careful around them. There was no doubt in my mind, even at six years of age, that a gun could be a terrible thing if you didn't know how to use it, or a "bad person" used one. While my parents failed in many respects, this was a lesson that stuck with me and I am grateful for it.
A problem with guns, as with a lot of issues, is that parents don't want to be parents. They don't want the responsibility of their child's safety, and don't want to have to give up any of their pleasures in order to be a parent. They want to be their child's "friend" and never say no.