# Take that gun and shove it.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-that-gun-and-shove-it/256229
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [July 21, 2004, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-that-gun-and-shove-it/256229 "2004-07-21T19:20:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2004, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-that-gun-and-shove-it/256229/1 "2004-07-21T19:20:48Z")
I have failed. In vein I have tried to think of creative swear words to express my feelings, none could express my outrage. Calling you a moron, idiot or fool did not begin to describe your stupidity. The only word that seems to come to mind is EVIL. I have always known that you were bigoted, lazy, and not entirely sane. But now I know you are EVIL personified.
It was not enough for you to screw up your own kids, now you have to start on your grandchildren as well. It’s not enough for you to teach them your hatred of anyone who isn’t pure white, or heterosexual. It’s not enough to teach them your paranoia of the U.S. government (there is no microchip implanted in your butt). Now you have to endanger their lives.
What the Hell possessed you to even think of teaching a three-year-old child to shoot a handgun? What made you decide this was a good thing? How did you justify this to yourself? I can believe your idiot son went along with this but thought your DIL had some sanity left
Oh yes! I heard you tell me he wouldn’t pick a up and play with one of the guns you keep loaded around the house because you told him never to do that. He is 3 fucking years old. A three-year-old can’t remember to go to the potty half the time, and you think he’ll remember not to play with a gun if you’re not in the room? Nobody is this fucking crazy. I hope if he does accidentally shoot someone that he shoots your balls off. To bad that didn’t happen before you reproduced six times.
I hope you enjoy the visit from CPS. After all the calls they’ve received from your relatives, I would imagine you’re on a first name basis by now.
Oh! When someone shows up asking for a blood sample it’s not the government trying to trick you. It is because I and the rest of your siblings are trying to prove the hospital made a mistake. Because there is no fucking way you are related to us.
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### Author:  [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2004, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-that-gun-and-shove-it/256229/2 "2004-07-21T19:26:17Z")
Yeah, it takes a special breed of jackass to leave loaded firearms out in the open with a three year old around, and even more so to let the kid shoot pistols. At that age, and that size, they’re too damned small to deal with a recoil or to follow the safety rules.
It’s not to early to start telling them not to play with guns, but there’s no need to make every freaking day a real life test where there’s a loaded piece on the table.
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### Author:  [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2004, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-that-gun-and-shove-it/256229/3 "2004-07-21T19:38:44Z")
He isn’t teaching him not to play with guns, he’s teaching him what to do if the FEDS show up.
Yes! I did warn CPS about the guns.
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### Author:  [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-that-gun-and-shove-it/256229/4 "2004-07-21T20:05:11Z")
The fuck? This is a joke thread, right? Please tell me this is fiction.
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### Author:  [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2004, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-that-gun-and-shove-it/256229/5 "2004-07-21T20:13:19Z")
I am all for gun rights and for training children in gun safety from an early age.
But three years old is just too damn young. I hope someone is able to get these kids as far away from him as possible.
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### Author:  [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2004, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-that-gun-and-shove-it/256229/6 "2004-07-21T20:14:09Z")
[pedantic nitpick]
“In vain”. You tried “in vain”.
[/pedantic nitpick]
_Sorry, that’s one of my language pet peeves_
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### Author:  [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2004, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-that-gun-and-shove-it/256229/7 "2004-07-21T20:20:04Z")
> [@tdn](#):
>
> The fuck? This is a joke thread, right? Please tell me this is fiction.
No! Sorry I wish I could then maybe the nightmares would stop. Idiot son managed to shot himself in the foot when he was eleven. That taught neither one of them a thing. My parent’s idiot son (I refuse to call him my brother) was outraged that the police took the gun as evidence.
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### Author:  [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2004, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-that-gun-and-shove-it/256229/8 "2004-07-21T20:21:14Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#):
>
> I am all for gun rights and for training children in gun safety from an early age.
I’m pretty much against gun rights (hey, I’m a tree-hugging commie liberal, it’s one of the requirements), but agree that if we must have guns, then lessons in safety are a good idea. But how much learning is a 3 year old going to retain? Answer: Not bloody much. This is not irresponsible behavior. This is criminal psychosis.
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### Author:  [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2004, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-that-gun-and-shove-it/256229/9 "2004-07-21T20:28:48Z")
> [@Homebrew](#):
>
> [pedantic nitpick]
>
> “In vain”. You tried “in vain”.
>
> [/pedantic nitpick]
>
> _Sorry, that’s one of my language pet peeves_
I thought it was but Spell Check disagreed. Next time I’ll know better.
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### Author:  [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2004, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-that-gun-and-shove-it/256229/10 "2004-07-21T20:34:35Z")
I own a few guns, and I have a 4 year old.
My guns stay locked and cased at all times, unless I’m shooting.
My son saw my rifle once, when I was at my neighbors cabin, and I was going to go shoot some bowling pins at the gravel pit.
This behavior disturbs me to no end. He should be arrested. Or institutionalized.
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### Author:  [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2004, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-that-gun-and-shove-it/256229/11 "2004-07-21T20:52:44Z")
> [@Tinkertoy](#):
>
> I thought it was but Spell Check disagreed. Next time I’ll know better.
Though - speaking fro experience - it’s years until you can remember reliably ☹ Oh, and your spell-check didn’t know the word “vain”? That sucks.
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### Author:  [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2004, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-that-gun-and-shove-it/256229/12 "2004-07-21T20:56:23Z")
> [@Shade](#):
>
> Though - speaking fro experience - it’s years until you can remember reliably ☹ Oh, and your spell-check didn’t know the word “vain”? That sucks.
[hijack]
It probably does have the word “vain” in its dictionary. However, since “vein” is the word for the tube that returns deoxygenated blood to the heart, there’s no reason to assume that spellcheck would detect such a mistake.
Spellcheck can’t catch grammatical or word-usage errors, only misspellings.
[/hijack]
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### Author:  [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2004, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-that-gun-and-shove-it/256229/13 "2004-07-21T21:14:53Z")
> [@NurseCarmen](#):
>
> This behavior disturbs me to no end. He should be arrested. Or institutionalized.
That’s a bit much, don’t you think? At the risk of drawing flames from every corner, I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s never too early to teach children gun safety. But _having said that_, leaving them out with kids this young is still foolish, to say nothing of the man in question’s ultra-conservative views.
But isn’t it reasonable that children who understand firearms, what they can do and how they work, are less likely to play with them and accidentally shoot someone? Maybe the guy in question is none too bright, but teaching a three year old to shoot, on its face, does not automatically qualify him as the Devil incarnate or unbalanced to me.
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### Author:  [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2004, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-that-gun-and-shove-it/256229/14 "2004-07-21T21:16:17Z")
> [@Tinkertoy](#):
>
> He isn’t teaching him not to play with guns, he’s teaching him what to do if the FEDS show up.
Ahhhh… so this is how a David Koresh is risen. ☹
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### Author:  [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2004, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-that-gun-and-shove-it/256229/15 "2004-07-21T21:37:36Z")
> [@Lizard](#):
>
> That’s a bit much, don’t you think? At the risk of drawing flames from every corner, I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s never too early to teach children gun safety. But _having said that_, leaving them out with kids this young is still foolish, to say nothing of the man in question’s ultra-conservative views.
> But isn’t it reasonable that children who understand firearms, what they can do and how they work, are less likely to play with them and accidentally shoot someone? Maybe the guy in question is none too bright, but teaching a three year old to shoot, on its face, does not automatically qualify him as the Devil incarnate or unbalanced to me.
He Is NOT teaching him gun safety he is teaching him how to shoot PEOPLE. He is teaching him that it’s okay to consider certain people as inferior. He is teaching that it is not wrong to shoot those people. Did you miss the part where the childs father, who was also trained by this man, shoot himself in the foot when he was 11 while playing with a gun?
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### Author:  [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2004, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-that-gun-and-shove-it/256229/16 "2004-07-21T21:49:50Z")
> [@tdn](#):
>
> I’m pretty much against gun rights (hey, I’m a tree-hugging commie liberal, it’s one of the requirements), but agree that if we must have guns, then lessons in safety are a good idea. But how much learning is a 3 year old going to retain? Answer: Not bloody much. This is not irresponsible behavior. This is criminal psychosis.
I don’t know if it’s psychosis, but it certainly is criminal.
How about that? You and I can agree on something. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Unregistered\_Bull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unregistered_Bull)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2004, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-that-gun-and-shove-it/256229/17 "2004-07-21T22:06:50Z")
Where exactly are these loaded guns kept and how accessible are they?
How exactly did he teach him to shoot? Did he let him shoot it all by himself? Watch him shoot it to see how it operates? Did the kid have hearing and eye protection?
It would have to be a pretty small gun fo a 3 year old to handle by hisself. I’ve let little kids shoot a .22 before with hearing protection at around 4 and a lot of assistance was needed.
“Microchip implants” are crazy stuff and teaching hate of homosexuals and non-whites is wrong. But no more so than animal rights advocacy or similar nonsense.
I don’t know if you’re jumping to the wrong conclusions and exaggerating because this guy isn’t politically correct (maybe even racist), liberal and doesn’t hate guns. But that is my suspicion.
Of course I could be wrong and the gun and the guns are laying around in reach of a little kid or he letting the kid to shoot without hearing protection or poor supervision.
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-that-gun-and-shove-it/256229/18 "2004-07-21T22:15:29Z")
> [@Machetero](#):
>
> “Microchip implants” are crazy stuff and teaching hate of homosexuals and non-whites is wrong. But no more so than animal rights advocacy or similar nonsense.
Please tell me you’re kidding. While I’m not a PETA type, I do think people shouldn’t abuse animals.
How that is in anyway comparable to racism and homophobia is beyond me.
(If you’re talking about PETA types, they don’t even approach the horror of homophobia. When was the last time PETA tied a meat eater to a fence and beat him/her to death?)
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2004, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-that-gun-and-shove-it/256229/19 "2004-07-21T22:31:28Z")
I think a child should be taught gun safety at an early age. Age-appropriate gun safety, that is: At three, this consists of “Don’t play with this, don’t even touch it, and if you see it out, come and tell an adult.” The kid would need to be significantly older and more mature to convince me that he’s ready to shoot a gun himself.
Of course, I grew up in a region where a boy’s first deer hunt happened at fourteen (not alone, of course, out with his dad) and some kids were plinking cans with .22s at eight. Which means I’ve either been raised by responsible adults or horrible, abusive troglodytes, depending on which political party you come from.
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### Author:  [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2004, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-that-gun-and-shove-it/256229/20 "2004-07-21T22:34:34Z")
> [@](#):
>
> **Lizard** said:
> That’s a bit much, don’t you think? At the risk of drawing flames from every corner, I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s never too early to teach children gun safety. But having said that, leaving them out with kids this young is still foolish, to say nothing of the man in question’s ultra-conservative views.
You’re not exactly alone on that limb.
> [@](#):
>
> **me** :
> It’s not to early to start telling them not to play with guns, but there’s no need to make every freaking day a real life test where there’s a loaded piece on the table.
> [@](#):
>
> But isn’t it reasonable that children who understand firearms, what they can do and how they work, are less likely to play with them and accidentally shoot someone? Maybe the guy in question is none too bright, but teaching a three year old to shoot, on its face, does not automatically qualify him as the Devil incarnate or unbalanced to me.
It’s far from any kind of ‘universal’ evidence considering this is merely my own personal experience, but that’s what worked on sistersix and me. We learned early on that the guns were there, we saw them through the glass in the cabinet, we handled them with very close supervision, and I started learning to shoot around five or six years old. My sister didn’t because she had no interest in the guns at all. Neither of us ever attempted to get into the gun cabinet.
> [@](#):
>
> How that is in anyway comparable to racism and homophobia is beyond me.
I think he was referring to the ALF and ELF types who assault people wearing fur coats and burn down ski resorts in order to ‘save the animals’ or ‘save the planet’.
Although terrorizing kids at McDonald’s with ‘UnHappy Meals’ filled with pictures of tortured animals is just as cruel as shouting epithets at a gay person.
> [@](#):
>
> Of course, I grew up in a region where a boy’s first deer hunt happened at fourteen (not alone, of course, out with his dad) and some kids were plinking cans with .22s at eight.
I grew up in SW Pennsylvania, and could legally hunt on my own license at 12 provided I was with a licensed adult hunter, and this included small and large game. I know what you mean.
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