Sister is shot over a bag of chips

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by llama64

Did you really understand the reason why you were taught gun safety? I'm arguing that a child cannot understand the reason why they should not shoot a gun at another person. Not that they have no capacity for obeying a rule. A dog can be trained to jump through a hoop when you blow a whistle. They don't know why they should jump through that hoop though.

Proper gun safety involves an understanding of the consequences of shooting another living being. I don't believe kids should be shooting guns until they get a mature understanding of what the heck they are doing.

How difficult is it for a 7 or 8 year old to understand that guns can kill a person. I understood it as I'm sure most kids who grew up hunting do.
You see a deer, bird, whatever get shot and you pretty quickly understand why you shouldn't shoot someone.

Should a three year old be allowed to handle a gun?
Of course not, but I think by the time a kid is 7 or 8 they can understand what it means to kill someone.

[RougeUnderoos]

Gun-safety gun-shmafety. Anyone who's ever spent any time with an ADD 10 year-old would know that leaving him with access to a shotgun and ammunition is just slightly safer than leaving him in a room with a live grenade.

I don't care how many lectures, visits from Charlton Heston or handling lessons he's had, it's going to turn out bad.

They mentioned the kid could be up on some pretty hefty charges. Great. Send a 7-year-old to the clink for something his idiot father did. Justice!

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

Gun-safety gun-shmafety. Anyone who's ever spent any time with an ADD 10 year-old would know that leaving him with access to a shotgun and ammunition is just slightly safer than leaving him in a room with a live grenade.

I don't care how many lectures, visits from Charlton Heston or handling lessons he's had, it's going to turn out bad.

They mentioned the kid could be up on some pretty hefty charges. Great. Send a 7-year-old to the clink for something his idiot father did. Justice!

Yes, because the child plays no factor in a responsible parent's choice to teach their kids how to use guns.

yeah, if I have kids who are all hopped up on rittalin and can't control themselves, I'm not gonna give them access to guns.
Hell even if they are responsible I'm still not gonna give them access to the guns unless I'm around.

I'm not advocating giving your kids a key to the safe.
What I'm saying is that it's perfectly reasonable to each a kid how to use a gun, and to let them do it under supervised circumstances.
Part of responsible gun ownership is keeping kids away from them no matter how well versed they are in their safe use.

Should a 7 year old have acces to guns all willy nilly like?
Of course not.
Can you teach a 7 year old to use a firearm safely under supervision?
You sure can.
Would I rather my kids know how to safely handle a firearm should they somehow get a hold of one (from a friend or something, cause unless they are certified safe crackers, they aren't getting at mine)? You bet I would.

[RougeUnderoos]

My comments weren't really for or against kids learning the responsible handling of firearms.

It was more of a "man this idiot is an idiot" rant. Very helpful I'm sure.

[Ford Prefect]

Originally Posted by llama64

You cannot teach children proper gun safety. Even as teenagers they barely have a grasp on cause and effect to understand what it means to shoot someone. Not only that, most children have not developed any sense of empathy to use when judging cause and effect in the first place.

Parents can lecture all day long about things and yet their children will still screw up.

Better just to keep the damn things out of the house.

You have a very low opinion of kids, their level of intelligence, their faculty for learning and their ability to discern right from wrong. Just curious ... do you have any kids yourself?

In my experience, kids are a lot brighter and empathetic than you're giving them credit for.

[Hack&Lube]

I'd shoot someone for a bag of O'Ryans Thick & Cruncy Sour Cream & Onion Potato Chips circa 1994.