Hey, Hand Me That Gun, Would You?
Teaching young teens about gun safety starts with a visit to the local shooting range. You don't just hand a running chainsaw to a child, nor should you hand them a loaded gun.
Rene instructs new students.
A power saw in not dangerous in and of itself, nor is a gun. But either of them in the hands of a novice is a bad idea.
My youngest is now fourteen and interested in guns. He started by asking me about the kinds of guns I owned before moving to South America. Then he found a game related to disassembly, cleaning, and even design of guns. More questions came up about what makes a weapon fully automatic.
I have always had guns around me since I was young, and even owned a couple of dozen of them way back when, but not since moving to this country.
About a month ago, we went to a gun store to browse the racks and see what they had. First exposure needs to be in a safe, unloaded environment. we looked at and even held a couple new model 9mm semi automatic hand guns.
Today, we went to the range, which is buried in a bunker under an unsuspecting city neighborhood, and my kids became familiar with the noise and smells of gunfire.
Rene is the teacher, a retired coast guard man. He is familiarizing four new perspective gun owners on what to do and what not to do when handling hand guns. After a couple of hours, they will be heading into the range and take aim.
Take a minute: Video of what we saw there.
This is the kind of safety class my children will be taking in order to learn about arms before they are allowed to blast holes in paper targets.
I still have my FOID (firearms owners identification card) from when I lived in the USA, but I would need a new card for a new country.
I am in no rush to take on that responsibility here. There is very little crime that would warrant having a firearm. Grab and run is the second most frequent kind of robbery. The first is when cashiers palm bills when you pay for your merchandise, then hold up the cash and say, "You did not give me enough".
Neither of those deserves a led response.
I saw the video, I think that first we have to educate in relation to the handling of weapons, and with that the responsibility of the use of the same. It is preferable to do it this way, before "another stranger" teaches it. Greetings from Venezuela.
I also love guns, maybe I have that fascination because my mother is a retired military and I spent a lot of time in her workplace accompanying her (a military hospital).
Since childhood I was always instructed on the dangers of handling firearms (especially loaded) and the minimum safety measures you must have when carrying them.
I agree with your point of view, CABA specifically does not have even the smallest index of violence in Venezuela, my country of origin, even any city in Argentina (if you look at the Top 50 of the most dangerous cities in the world, it does not figure no city Argentina).
I don't know if the index of violence in the depths of the sea where you live justifies carrying a weapon.
Regards.
Cool that you guys went out to do this. It was only a matter of time before he got interested, IMO.
Learning how to use a firearm and how to be safe with one is the only (smart) way to go about it.
I have always believed that weapons themselves are not the problem, although I believe that it is not something that should be put in the hands of a child, even with proper training and education, children will always be children.
I do believe that their existence is justified, from many points of view where they become tools whose use is necessary, however in whatever legal context, in which their use is necessary, it is always important that they be placed in hands, only of responsible and focused people, who have sufficient psychological conditions to make a sensible and safe use of them.
Agreed! However there is a psychological maturity that is gained when holding a loaded gun for the first time. It is quite sobering. What I mean to say is that people become more mentally sound when given greater responsibility.
Think of the changes that come over a man when he becomes a father.
Well to tell you the truth, I've never had a loaded gun in my hands, so I don't know the feeling you mean.
My opinion about children is only personal, and from the point of view of a city dweller, there are environments in which I think it might be justified, there are many environments where children are forced, in the good sense of the word, to mature faster, and it is possible that for them it is necessary to use weapons, such as tools to provide a livelihood for example.
But in reality I do not criticize those who give this type of experiences to a child, as long as, as you mention in your publication, it is done with all the responsibility and security of the case, always as an enriching experience and above all as a lesson about the security measures that should be taken with them and the risks involved in their use.
Now that in your particular case I see that your son is a boy of fourteen years, which in reality, puts him at an age where he should have the maturity consistent with the experience.
@sponge-bob, que buena iniciativa que has tomado, recuerdo que a los 5 años he tenido la experiencia con un arma, mi padre me enseñó y me explicó todo lo referente a la pistola 9 mm. que tenía en casa, siempre estuvo a mi alcance desde ese momento y a los 12 años me invitó a probar y me resistí, luego a los 20 años cursando para ser policía he experimentado y desde ese momento no dejó de gustarme efectuar disparos, en ambientes seguros, recuerdo haber salido en primer puesto en un concurso de tiro con pistola semiautomática 9 mm. Hermosa experiencia.
No sabia que hiciste competenica en tiros. Fue a 10 pasos?
No se 10 pasos eran como 20 metros de distancia con pistola Versa Thunder 9 mm. y en el polígono la la escuela de oficiales de la Policía Federal Argentina. Lo que si recuerdo y nunca me voy a olvidar que en algunos entrenamientos el oficial instructor efectuaba disparos al lado de nuestros pies y muy cerca de nuestras cabezas para comprobar nuestra reacción, en un entrenamiento con escopeta de 12 mm, ametralladora de 9 mm y pistola, este oficial disfrutaba disparar muy cerca para "que actuemos bajo presión". En fin estuvo bueno igual. Ah también los entrenamiento con gases lacrimógenos de distintos tipos se han fijado en mi mente ya que han sido experiencias significativas.
I am very afraid of weapons, since I was little I watched as my grandfather keep a very old revolver of the Spanish war on an old and very tall closet. I barely reached, climbed on the bed and leaned on a box and touched it. That's why I know how attractive a weapon can be for a small child. Years later, a little boy wanted to show his neighbor's gun to a neighbor. The neighbor boy shot and killed his friend by accident.
I have a family friendly to my children, their dad took them to the shooting range, and taught them how to handle weapons, they became champions and won medals in competitions.
In conclusion, teaching children how to handle weapons correctly will protect them from accidents.
Thank you for sharing your experience is a very sensitive issue, but teaching is better than fear or fear.
@sponge-bob
Le tengo mucho miedo a las armas, desde pequeña observe como mi abuelo guardar un revolver muy viejo de la guerra española sobre un viejo y altisimo armario. Yo apenas alcanzaba, me subia en la cama y me apoyaba sobre una caja y la tocaba. Por eso se lo atrayente que puede ser un arma para un niño pequeño. Años despues un niño pequeño quiso enseñarle el arma de su papá a un vecino. El niño vecino disparo y mato por accidente a su amigo.
Tengo una familia amiga de mis hijos, su papà los llevo al campo de tiro, y les enseño a manejar las armas, se volvieron campeones y obtuvieron medallas en las competencias.
En conclusión enseñar correctamente a los niños el manejo de las armas los protegera de accidentes.
Gracias por compartir tu experiencia es un tema muy delicado, pero enseñar es mejor que temer o tener miedo.
@sponge-bob
Saludos @sponge-bob, el arma suele tener un poder sobre la mente de quien la posee, por ello es necesario mantener el pleno control de nuestras acciones con arma, veo en mi pais mucgos oficiales que teniendo un arma de alto calibre no tienen conciencia sobre su uso, yo respeto el arma tal cual una serpiente.
I have two of those too (tengo dos serpientes tambien).
Wow, lo pensaría mucho para ir a visitarlo jajaja. Son dos peligros latentes, tyo les tengo pavor, solo me les acerco a las iguanas.
The issue of weapons is a delicate matter and I think your behavior as a father is very responsible when you want to instruct your children before they manipulate something so delicate. In Latin America, and specifically in my country, there is no such culture, there are many young criminals who kill many people for the handling of weapons without any responsibility. A good education not only in school but from the family, is the basis of responsible adulthood. Thank you for sharing this personal experience and transferring it to the reflection of what education and knowledge about such a sensitive topic should be. A hug from Venezuela!..@sponge-bob
There are strong opinions on both sides of this issue. There are parents who do not keep their guns, pills, or power tools well out of the reach of their kids which causes accidents, very sad accidents.
I live in Latin America too and there are some guns in the streets. Currently they are adding thousands of new "police" to keep order. I worry about all these new officers that have less than six months of experience with guns. And they keep a loaded gun on their hip for 10 hours or so per day.
Most people feel safer when a policeman walk into a bank. I do not. What I see is a person with a gun, and I do not know how sane that person is.
I have never liked weapons, but there is a moment that deserves to be used. As for example in self-defense.
Greetings, I hope you are very well.
The issue of firearms for me is very delicate, I confess that I am even afraid of him, I don't know how I could handle the situation. Fortunately I have two girls and it is usually more difficult for them to be interested in weapons.
On the other hand, I really congratulate you on the way in which you are handling the situation with your children, the one that is leading them towards a responsible handling of weapons, speaks very well of you as a person and as a father.
Also, I thank you for sharing your experience, as it will allow other parents, who may be going through a similar situation and do not know how to act, can be guided by your experience.
Happy day.