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@looch: I'm with you! So call me naive too!
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@Navy_Mommy: I agree with this. Our LOs will grow up seeing guns used responsibly, and will definitely be taught gun safety.
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This is a really interesting question. I don't think I would ask parents about their method of gun storage. If I don't trust them to store guns safely around children, I wouldn't let my child play over there. I think that you have to trust other parents to do the right thing because in all reality the majority of gun owners do practice gun safety. Guns aren't the only dangerous thing in a home which is why I would rather use my instincts to judge a person instead of asking random questions about random household objects.
I am also thinking about what I would do if someone asked me any of the questions presented in this thread. If someone asked if we owned guns and how they are stored I would answer truthfully ("Yes we own fire arms. They are safely locked up and unloaded"). If someone asked if we carry, we would probably say no regardless of whether or not we were actually carrying because I am uncomfortable with people knowing whether or not we have a loaded weapon on our person. If someone asked to see our safe/storage system we would flat out refuse. Nobody outside of my husband and myself know how many, what kind, etc of weapons we own. We may own 1, we may own 100,000. It's nobody's business and the quickest way to get yourself robbed is to start telling everyone what you own and showing them where and how it is stored. To me, that is like saying "Look at my diamond tiara! Isn't it beautiful? This is the safe we store it in. Watch me open it."
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@Meltini: + 1,000! Totally agree!
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@Meltini: agreed!!
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@Meltini: While I agree with your statement of not showing people your safety system of how you lock your guns up, as a parent, if you told me that you weren't carrying and I caught a glimpse of your weapon on you, I would never allow my child back in your home again.
Call me unreasonable, but you just lied to me about carrying a weapon. That wouldn't sit well with me at all.
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@Meltini: +1 hahah if I let DH use HB he would have written the same response. He's open about carrying though, and he is about 80% of the time. I guess no one on HB would let their kids play with mine, womp womp.
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@Meltini: I was going to ask a two-part question to see if the parents who are gun owners would be offended if someone asked about guns in the house.
I wouldn't ask to see where the guns are stored or how many and what type (I was joking about the vault in my earlier post) but I am definitely asking about loaded guns in the home.
I didn't even think about asking if someone carried a gun on their person. That does not even compute for me! I'm a city girl and the only people who carry guns around here (that I know of) are police officers and criminals.
ETA: I don't think of guns as "random household objects" but that's my humble opinion.
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@2PeasinaPod: A properly concealed weapon should never be visable.
And actually, I don't know what we would say if someone asked if we were carrying. We probably wouldn't say yes, but we may not say no either. Carrying isn't legal in my state for a few more months so we still have time to figure all of that out.
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@MrsTiz: are the guns in your home locked or not? If the answer is no, then you're right, my son wouldn't be playing at your house. Your kid would be welcome in my home.
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@mrsjazz: I'm a city girl and the only people who carry guns around here (that I know of) are police officers and criminals.<--- this exactly!
@MrsTiz: I don't mean this in a rude way-- why does he carry 80% of the time? Like I've said previously-- guns are pretty foreign to me, so unless someone was a police officer or FBI agent or something, I don't see why you (hypothetical you, no you personally) would have one on you all the time?
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To be honest I wouldn't even think to ask this question! The only people who I know own guns are my FIL and SMIL. I am definitely going to have a talk with them before bringing our future LO over to stay there. Every time DH adn I have visited, my FIL takes at least one gun out to show DH. I always walk into another room because I hate being around guns. If they go against our wishes and a gun comes out during our stay, we just won't come back.
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@looch: I'm not sure I understand why my child wouldn't be allowed at your house just because I have a gun at my home.. that seems really unnecessary.
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@MrsTiz: I wrote that your child would be welcome to come to my house, but if you have unlocked guns in your home, then my son's not coming over to your house.
I had to go back and read what I wrote just in case!
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@Meltini: Yep.
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I found this site to have some interesting information in regards to gun control... I haven't gone through all the cited sources but it seems pretty unbiased with just the straight-forward info... if anyone finds it faulty do let me know! =)
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@Foodnerd81: No real reason really! It's just very common here. I'm at work right now (working hard ovb. lol) and there are 4 men in the lobby/offices I can see from my desk.. 3 of them have a gun on their hip and the other one has one in his truck.
We're just in a gun toting area! My sister has a gun, my mom has a gun, my grandma has a gun..everyone has them. Not sure why, but I guess they'd rather be safe than sorry? -
@looch: Oh sorry! I guess I read over that too fast! Can he come over if I keep my guns locked in a safe w/ the key in a separate room?
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@MrsTiz: You just rocked my world. There are people at your job with guns. And you don't work in law enforcement? And that's okay at work? Seriously my eyes are bugging out of my head, haha. I feel like we live in different countries!!!
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@MrsTiz: I wouldn't have a problem with that, I feel really strongly about the guns being locked.
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@mrsjazz: DH works in the pawn business & carries a concealed weapon at work. I imagine that alot more people than you think carry weapons around you everyday.
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@MrsTiz: Lol, and I can climb into pretty much any of DH's boss's vehicles and there's at least one gun in it. Because we might see a coyote (huge pest in this area), duh.
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This is a really interesting thread for me because I grew up not ever having seen a gun, or really knowing anyone that had them. Then I married DH and moved to Texas where everyone and their mom has a gun and half of them carry them everywhere they go. DH has several guns in our home, and he's taken me to the range once to show me how to shoot them in case I needed them in an emergency. My default in an emergency is call the police though, not go get the gun. It's definitely just a regional/cultural difference, and I still don't really get it most of the time.
I know our son will be taught gun safety from a young age, because DH hunts, and will take E. I also know we will continue to responsibly own and house our guns. I don't know how I'd handle knowing if there are guns in someone else's house though. I've honestly never thought of it.
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@mrsjazz: Nope, Construction! I'll try and be sneaky and take some pictures lol!
@runsyellowlites: that is VERY true. You won't know someone has a gun if they are properly concealing it, I think a lot of people would be surprised at who has a gun on them!
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@mrsjazz: @MrsTiz: Yeah-- I didn't know how to respond to that. It's just so foreign to me!
@runsyellowlites: I wouldn't be shocked that someone working in a pawn store or something would have one for protection. I work in a really mundane, boring office building just outside the city, doing boring office work. I would be SHOCKED if I found out someone was carrying a gun to work every day. Utterly flabbergasted.
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It's probably not something that would come up, unless I had a reason to ask. We have guns in our home so I wouldn't have a double standard, but I openly admit it would be based on my judgments of whether or not that person was responsible, and of course asking to see where they keep them or what safe they have is not out of the question. I wouldn't mind showing other people ours either. (And in light of other responses I'll share why. The only people who I'd be comfortable leaving C with are people I've already gotten to know, and same pretty much goes for kids I would watch in my home. I think knowing the families is important, and other kids can take it or leave it as far as our gun ownership goes. So while yes, anyone can attempt to rob you, I wouldn't be flashing this around to just anyone.)
@Arden: Never? Why not? I remember being little and this being a big socializing thing for me, being friends with the neighbors' children and playing at each others' homes, etc. I respect your decision, I'm just curious why!
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Thankfully here in Canada this cases are much fewer and farther between. I'm not so naive to think that it *can't* happen, but I don't know anyone who actually owns a gun so I won't worry too much.
When we were facing a possible move this year for DH's job, I begged and pleaded him to take a transfer somewhere still within Canada. A big reason for that was that the gun culture/recent mass shootings in the States scares the beejebus out of me...I lived in North Carolina for a few years and fared out fine, but with children coming into the picture I know that I couldn't handle it emotionally.
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@Meltini: I would be the parent that would ask if you carry a gun. This would determine if I allowed you to take my child on a play date outside of your home. I know people who carry guns on them or place the guns in a purse. I wouldn't ask how you keep your guns or to see your storage because it doesn't matter to me. I wouldn't change my mind about leaving my child in your care.
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@runsyellowlites: I could see your DH carrying a concealed weapon in his business.
I'm not up-to-date on gun carry laws but I think (and I could be wrong so nobody quote me) that it's super hard to get a license to carry OR it's either not allowed here. I have to look it up.
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I've never seen a gun in person that wasn't strapped to a police officer or member of the military so they are very foreign to me. A gun will never be allowed in my home, and I would prefer my kids to not be in homes with guns. This is honestly one of the things that scares me about potentially moving to Texas because I know the gun culture is very different there and I'm not comfortable with it. I suppose I'd just have to take things as they come, but at this point the idea of my child being in a home with a gun, locked or not, makes me very uneasy.
@mrsjazz: You're right that NYC does have very strict gun laws and I believe the state does not recognize concealed carry permits from other states. So if you are legal to carry a weapon in Virginia, for example, you would not be allowed to here.
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@mrsjazz: Just looked at where you live and yes you're right. NY is one of the more restrictive states.
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@mrsjazz: Yep it is tougher in NY! DH's grandpa lives there and has requested DH to find him bullets because they're so hard to find up there!
Okay I just asked to take pictures of their holsters, so heres 2/3 of them...the other guy is in his office on the phone so I can't get his right now.
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Wow, people just randomnly carry guns on them at all times? That really freaks me out. I don't think I could let my child go on a playdate with anyone who regularly carried a concealed weapon if I knew about it. I am from London and I live in NYC, it is just too alien to me for comfort. why would anyone need a gun to work on a construction site?
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@plantains: Ha, seems like all of us NYC-folk are having our eyes opened with this thread! It is also very alien to me, and I'm originally from VA (though Northern VA).
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@MrsSCB: yes, this thread is very illuminating. I am in shock right now!
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@plantains: It's not so much of a need as it is they are allowed to, so they do.
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@MrsTiz: @plantains: @MrsSCB: Mind blown. Actually my first words when I saw that picture were, "Holy shit!"
@plantains: I didn't know you were from London. I remember being there and learning the police didn't carry guns and my mind was blown then, too.
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Yes, we will ask, and no, our kids won't be allowed to have playdates at homes with guns unless my husband or I accompany them. Hopefully, we'll know the parents well enough to ask about guns and be able to explain our decisions before leaving our children in someone else's care. I know this will be an issue in the future, though, because we live in one of the reddest states in the Union where EVERYONE has a gun and a huge percentage have concealed carry permits, too. Oh yeah, and my husband works for the Dept. of Defense, so pretty much everyone at his work has guns in their homes. We'll be very selective and strict about whose house our kids are allowed at in the future, but for now, our kids can visit as long as one of us is there, too.
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@plantains: My cousin works as a dispatcher for a telecommunications company. He sits at a desk all day and carries a gun. I dont get why he has it on him all the time.
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@MrsTiz: right, i guess I am just having a hard time understanding why anyone would want to carry a gun around all the time. Especially a handgun, I don't get it. Owning a rifle at home to hunt I somewhat understand, carrying a handgun because you are allowed to, I don't get.
And actually, I don't know what we would say if someone asked if we were carrying. We probably wouldn't say yes, but we may not say no either. Carrying isn't legal in my state for a few more months so we still have time to figure all of that out.
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