I have kids 13 and 9 years old. My mom helps immensely with my kids since my wife and I are both in school. She gets them off the bus, takes them to school, and is generally a great Grandparent.
Last weekend I discovered Mom has started to carry a hot pink .380 for protection. She has a waist band holster and pulled it out to show me the other day when she was coming to pick up the kids for something.
I am somewhat baffled that a woman with grand daughters under 5 (not mine) would own a gun that is the same color as Barbie’s Dream House.
I am pro gun and pro 2nd amendment and I don’t really want the government infringing on individuals’ rights to own guns. That isn’t what this is about at all.
In my opinion my mom doesn’t have the experience, decision making, dexterity, speed, etc to make having a firearm anything but a dangerous thing.
Of course she disagrees. Ultimately I am the father and I told her if she has the children she will not be carrying a gun…end of story.
But I am reasonable and was curious about the impact of owning a gun in a household with young children. Statistically, does having a gun in the house have more impact by a) defending against violent crime or b) causing child deaths?
Certainly it impacts both. But how do you decide which option is the statistical better bet? Backing up assertions with stats is greatly encouraged. I tried to google some stuff myself but had a tough time wading through the political screeds of both sides.
According to Firearm and Injury Center at Penn, between 2003-2007 there were 81,260 unintentional nonfatal firearms injuries. I’m a big fan of the 2nd Amendment and I’ve got no problem with concealed carry but if you don’t feel comfortable with your kids being around grandma while she’s packing heat then by all means put your foot down. None of us here at the SDMB know your grandma and we’re not in any better a position than you to make such a decision.
Warning: The following link is a PDF.
From memory (sorry, not in a position to get cites atm), the number of child deaths in the home due to fire arms is comparable to the number of deaths from drowning in the home, and is not the leading cause of death in any case. Statistically speaking, it’s a pretty low probability event, though that’s cold comfort to a parent if their child is killed (as is the fact that drowning is a pretty low probability event as well).
As to the first, I’d guess that it’s even less statistically likely that having a gun is going to be useful in defending against violent crime as well.
If you practice good gun safety and you teach the kids and limit their unsupervised access to guns then it’s not a probably. Most accidents that happen in the home are because of carelessness, whether we are talking guns or ladders or anything else. Guns are just a tool, and if you practice good gun safety and common sense handling and storage (i.e. don’t leave your loaded gun out on the night stand where your kids can see and be curious about it) then it won’t be an issue. If you don’t do those things, then you shouldn’t have a gun (or any other dangerous tool) in your house anyway.
What you have to understand is that it’s not statistically a very big problem in the grand scheme of things. There are a relative handful of accidental children deaths due to fire arms each year…comparable to many other things that can and do accidentally kill children in and out of the home. It gets blow up because it’s sensational and the press jumps on each story like this, magnifying the true scale of the issue.
If you mean carrying concealed in a school zone, certainly not. There are a ton of prohibitions for when and where you can carry (depending on the state and your CCW permit), but schools, federal or state government buildings or parks, native American reservations and the like are just about universally prohibited. When I took the 3 day CCW class the instructor basically said that there are more restrictions on carrying than carrying openly, as well as a ton of legal and moral responsibilities that come with carrying, and we should really, really think hard about whether we wanted to carry even having the CCW. I have it and I almost never carry unless in very narrow, specific instances (and more for animal protection than because I want to protect myself from criminals).
The federal law allows licensed carry by the rules each state sets. For example, here in MN if you’re carrying by permit you’re exempted from the 1000’ distance rule.
The gun is hot pink. As the cites provided by others show, it’s hard enough to keep kids away from regular guns. A gun that looks like a toy? I’d be worried, too.
ETA: I’m not sure I get the point of pink everything for women anyway. Am I 12? If I get a handgun, I want a cold and efficent looking one. Black or gray. Not pink!
Sounds ridiculously stupid. I hope that she has a gun safe at home that she keeps it in and isn’t one of those stupid “just stick it in the side pocket of my recliner so it’s handy” people.
Every person I have known who had guns and then had kids went out and bought a large home gun safe before the kids were born. My guns are just in cases in the back of the closet, but I live alone. If there was a child in the house, I’d be out buying that safe.
I don’t get the hot pink pistol thing, either. I certainly don’t want anyone confusing my gun with a toy! Frankly I wish there was some sort of law that mandated that real firearms have to be “gun colors” (black, silver, camouflage, etc.) and AirSoft pistols, BB guns, water pistols, and other such devices be made only in “toy” colors (bright primary colors). It would be much safer all around!
9 and 13 are old enough to learn gun safety. We’re not talking toddlers here. Grandma’s not the only danger, either; you may not know what they’ll find in a friend’s house. If you haven’t taught your kids about gun safety, now’s the time to do it!
As for Grannie’s gun - frankly, as long as she’s wearing it, the kids are in minimal danger (because there’s no way they can get to it without her noticing it). It’s when she’s not wearing it that trouble may occur. Does she have a gun safe, does she use it, and does she unload the weapon fully before storing it? Those are the questions I’d be asking her.
How safe kids are in a household with guns depends entirely on how conscientious the parents are (just as it does with any other dangerous things in the house).
Concealed carry in federal parks is almost universally legal (assuming the carrying is permitted by the laws of the state in which the federal park resides) and has been since 2010. Info here.
Well, I originally took my CCW several years ago (I’ve updated though), so I might be a bit out of date. I distinctly remember our instructor saying you couldn’t carry concealed in many or most federal or state parks though.
My mother-in-law likes to sew quilts and has a set of tools with a floral pattern she uses when she needs to make adjustments to her sewing machine. Why? Because her husband won’t “borrow” the pliers with pretty little flowers all over it. As far as the pink, well, people have been decorating firearms for centuries now. Pink might not be my first choice but I don’t think it’s indicative of immaturity.
I had guns, which I used to say I posessed nominally for home/personal protection.
Now that I have children, they are locked and inacessible. Funny how I don’t need them for protection now that there are more precious people to protect.
The fact that the woman went out of her way to buy a pink gun frankly makes me wonder how much thought or common sense went into the purchase. The weapn looks more like a toy and so is more appealing to children, is less useful as a deterrent if it comes to that since it doesn’t look like a real gun normally looks, and frankly if you’re buying guns on appearance you can’t say you’re buying them entirely for their defensive value.
If she’s anything like relatives of a certain age with whom I am familiar, she’s going to keep doing whatever she pleases and just lie to you about it.
A good time to teach the kids that pink guns are just as dangerous as regular looking guns.
This is irrelevant. A weapon that is properly carried and/or stored cannot be accessed by a child regardless of what it looks like.
This might actually be a good point. A home invader may continue to break into your house when he thinks you’re pointing a toy at him rather than a real gun. I don’t have any sympathy for bad guys that get shot, but having them stop what their doing and run away is a better result for everyone involved.
Hot pink might be less of temptation for boys to play with, too girlish. A .380 pocket pistol is particularly hard to shoot well though, especially for a grandma.
