Guns, Hunting, and Children!

Guns, hunting, and children, is that a bad combination? I don’t think so. For those that know me, you know where I stand on this subject and know that it is something that I hold very dear to my heart. I grew up around guns and hunting, and was fortunate to be raised in a family where it was just a part of every day life. Many though, were not and have either been deprived from growing up with an adult that was educated about guns or have been taught the misconceptions about guns by the anti gun organizations or media.

When I talk to people, that do not own or are not familiar with guns, about shooting or hunting with my children I get the same response over and over. It is a shocked look followed by the same question. “You let your children around guns, isn’t that dangerous?” My response is always the same, “First of all guns are not dangerous, bullets can be dangerous, but gun ignorant people are very dangerous.” In order for a bullet to kill something, it must first be properly loaded into a gun, chambered, cocked, the safety removed and then the trigger pulled by a person. As you can see, there are many steps involved in order for a gun to be fired and would be a pretty difficult task for someone that knows absolutely nothing about the subject. Why then would that person go through all of the trouble to mishandle the gun or leave the gun lying around for someone else to mishandle. These actions are the result of an irresponsible person not the gun. 

The one thing that I do agree with the anti gun organizations about is that one gun accident is one to many. However, statistics show there are not nearly as many gun accidents as most of these people or the media would like you to believe. Let’s face the facts, children are much more likely to be killed in a car accident or drowned in a backyard pool than they are to be killed by a gun. Yet people never think twice about letting their children go swimming or jump into a car. Accidents do happen, and as unfortunate as they are, they again are not the fault of the gun but the fault of the person that failed to be responsible with that gun. 

There are several steps that can be taken to prevent those accidents from happening. The first step in preventing these accidents is education. I was taught at a very early age about gun safety and hunting by my grandfather and those lessons still live with me to this very day some thirty plus years later. These are the same lessons that I have passed on to my children along with a few others that I have picked up along the way. One of the first things he wanted to teach me was the severity of what could happen when that trigger is pulled. We took a trip to his range one morning where he placed a bucket filled with red paint about 50 yards down range. He then told me to imagine that was the mid section of a person and then he proceeded to shoot it with his .222 caliber rifle. The explosion is a vision that I will never forget and I am sure that my children, who were taught this same lesson, will not either. You see, I was taught the repercussions of what a bullet could do if handled inappropriately. I knew the severity from a very early stage in life. Today, the only thing that many children know about guns is from watching television or what they see on their favorite video games. They aren’t taught the significance of what that bullet can do or the damage that it can cause. All they have to do is hit the reset button and everyone is back to life.  Children should know there is no reset button in real life and their actions with that gun could be deadly. Mine have been taught gun safety and know the proper way to carry and handle a gun. They know how to load and unload their firearms, when the safety should be on or off, and where the muzzle should be pointed at all times. This was started at a very early age with them as well. My children were taught never to point a gun at something they did not intend to shoot. This was instilled in them from the very first plastic toy gun that they ever received. If I ever caught them pointing a toy gun at each other, someone else, or even the family pets they were promptly taken away and the situation was discussed. Some might think I take this too far, but I disagree. Knowing that I have and use guns on a regular basis, and hoping that one day they would as well, I wanted them to know how to properly handle it and the do’s and don’ts of gun safety. I also highly recommend to anyone with children whether you are familiar with guns or not to take a gun safety course with your children, we so called experts are never too old to learn a few new things either. 

Now, at ages 9 and 8 my children are very proficient with their firearms and I feel as safe with them by my side as I do with my best hunting buddies. In some case even more. You may not have been raised in a house with guns or the wonderful traditions of hunting but it is never too late to learn or to teach your children. Who knows, you just might save a life and they may one day be passing those traditions on to their grandchildren. Be safe and Happy Hunting!