There is a difference between not ever touching a gun, and having unfettered access to one. In this story, the 12-year old had easy access to a gun, which turned out to be fortunate in this case, but this case is the outlier, sort of like saying that you don’t wear your seatbelt because you have heard stories of people who were saved by being “thrown clear”.
I first handled a gun at somewhere around 12 or so, in Boy Scouts. I didn’t get to take it back to my tent, and it was under constant supervision by at least two adult instructors at all times.
Do you think that in hindsight that was a really good idea or more something along the lines of lawn darts, smoking in bed, smoking in the car with the kids and other 70’s nostalgia?
I dunno, it was fairly neutral. Didn’t really affect my life much way one way or another, just another merit badge to collect, really. I also took archery, for what it’s worth.
But, under supervision is much different from unfettered access, which was my point.
Let’s rewind to my actual point instead the point you are projecting onto me. My post started with this quote:
the idea that a 12 year old kid can EVER access a gun is simply NOT positive.
My argument is that this is an absolute statement and sweeping generalization. I am not making an argument that guns should be left around for 12-year-olds to play with, but the reality is that there are 12-year-olds who do learn to handle guns responsibly under appropriate supervision. I did say that in this case the boy very possibly saved his grandmother’s life, but that is just a statement of fact and is not the same as saying all 12-year-olds should have easy access to guns.
I was projecting no point onto you, I was agreeing with you, and contrasting that with my disagreement with Babale’s implication that a 12 year old should never be around or use guns in any situation.
Indeed. It’s hard to dispute that unfettered access should not be the norm. It’s a whole other thing to declare it an absolute that no acess should ever happen.
Yeah, I believe you transposed Babale’s for k9bfriender’s posts.
People really want the gun to be a last word in an argument, don’t they?
I didn’t even know that malls were still open, but maybe not for long:
And the articles posted in this thread are hardly the only such stories, these were just from the last week. With 15,000 deaths (not including suicides) and twice that in reported injuries, there are well over a hundred of these stories a day.
I wouldn’t consider this “having access” to a gun, in the way that the 12 year old kid whose dad left his loaded gun lying around where the kid could access it in seconds “had access”.
It isn’t something I’d let my kid do, but it isn’t on the same level.
And I entirely agree that guns should be secured, and should only be in the hands of children under close supervision.
I wouldn’t let my (hypothetical) kid join Boy Scouts, but for entirely different reasons.
As to whether I would teach them about guns, I don’t know. I don’t hunt, and I have only gone to the range with some of my gun toting friends as a social thing. I wouldn’t encourage it, but I suppose if they expressed an interest in guns, I’d rather satiate their curiosity under my supervision than with their friend’s dad’s gun that they found in the couch cushions.
The sources said Joshua Jamal Williams carried a pistol with an extended clip into the gun store and indoor shooting range at 6719 Airline Drive about 3 p.m. Saturday when staff told him to unload his weapon. Rules prohibit people from having loaded guns out while away from the range.
Williams subsequently fired a warning round before fatally shooting a store clerk, 47-year-old Noah Fischbach, who was married and was a father, one of the sources said. Several armed people at Jefferson Gun Outlet then began exchanging gunfire with Williams.
I think the lesson here is that if you’re at a gun store, you should always have your gun unholstered, loaded and safety off, just in case you need to quickly shoot a bad guy. And you’ll need to be quick about it, so keep your eyes open for any suspicious characters, for example anyone who is walking around with an unholstered, loaded gun.
Or a simpler solution, make customers go through a metal detector on the way in. You’d still need your gun at the ready while they do that, but once they’re screened, you could be a bit more relaxed.
(Yes, I know about the target shooting range at this gun store. There was a separate entrance for people who were there just to go to the range.)