I don't but if I did, I'd worry about an accidental shooting at home. I guess that's what gun safes are for though.
Do you have a gun in the house (either now or while growing up)? Did it make you feel more or less safe?
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Yes! I grew up with a dad who was a hunter but the guns were always locked in a gun safe in the basement. I was taught gun safety at a very young age.
Now, we have guns in the house and always will. Even when we have kids. We will buy a safe for under the bed that can only be opened by fingerprint recognition so the kids can't get to them. Our kids will also be taught gun safety from a very young age.
Owning a gun is a very important thing to my husband. And I like the safety of knowing I have one within arms reach at all times, especially when I'm home alone. I can assure you that if you break into my house and try to hurt me I will have absolutely no trouble grabbing my gun. The likelihood of having to shoot it are slim because studies show just having the gun pointed at them is enough to scare off any would be criminals.
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Not yet. My father grew up in a home like @eeh so I've been around hunting and guns most of my life.
We'll have guns at some point b/c DH and I both want some, but we don't currently.
DS is 7 and knows about them already since we like to go shoot with the family during holidays (yep we're country. lol)
I think that knowing/teaching gun safety is the key and not so much just not having them, and think most accidents are out of not knowing proper use OR getting comfortable with precautionary measures. (personal opinion)
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My dad was a policeman so yes, growing up we had a gun in the house. Neither my husband or I would feel comfortable having a gun in our own house though at all.
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@Run: I agree completely. We want our kids to know the ins and outs of gun safety because bad things are more likely to happen when people don't know how to properly handle a gun. I don't ever want my kids to be at a park or someone's house or anywhere else for that matter and stumble across a gun and freak out or pick it up and doing something stupid because they've never seen one before. I want them to know how to safely handle it with confidence.
#1 rule of gun safety...the gun is ALWAYS loaded. Always.
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don't think i'll ever have a gun at home, but i've shot it once and it's a lot of fun. but i also know how dangerous it is. rather not have it in the house. hope i'll never need it.
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No - we don't have a gun in the house, neither of us grew up with them (despite hunting being quite prevalent here) and we very strongly feel that we will never have a gun in our home.
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We always had a gun in the house growing up. My dad had a room that he kept them in, and a pistol in his bedroom. We knew where they were, and not to touch them. They were never loaded either.
We still have guns in the house. They are in a gun safe, except for one in our room. None of them are loaded.
We both grew up hunting, so hence the hunting rifles and shotguns. Plus we have pistols for when we are in the woods for protection, and I do feel safer knowing that I could easily access one at home if need be. Our child cant get to them, and nothing is loaded. But we also teach gun safety. DS knows about guns and not to ever touch them.
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Yes we do. Dh is LE and its second nature to him. Because of his occupation, I will be going to the range to learn how to handle a weapon. I never thought I would being this position but due to DH's occupation I rather be prepared.
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Nope, not now, not ever. I believe guns typically worsen problems rather than serving as protection. But not judging people that have them either...it's one of those very personal issues.
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Yes. I grew up with my parents hunting, I have a glock pistol locked up. My husband hunts as well, he has a couple rifles. My son has a bb gun until he can get the rules down. I wouldn't be comfortable in a gun free home.
We also go shooting with friends and family, we're pretty country here in Ory-gun lol
Oh I wanted to add that after a very very nasty divorce I went through a class to get my concealed weapons permit too. It isn't fun divorcing a crazy ex-cop who's trigger happy.
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Definitely not. Neither of us grew up around guns or hunting. I also see them as more dangerous rather than potential protection.
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We don't have one. I think my parents did but I'm not really sure. My husband was raised by two women and they always had a gun and traveled with it too. They felt that two women with four small children made easy targets.
My husband wants us to get one but I'm not really sure. All I can think about is the potential for accidents. And if someone does break in your home and tries to attack you would you really have time to open a gun safe and load the gun? This is why I am hesitant.
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My step-dad has a gun and we still have no idea where he keeps it. Lol. But yeah, my parents had one growing up.
FI and his family have them, mostly for going shooting. We don't have any in our house currently, but we would like to have one or two. Honestly, I want a little pink one. Never thought I would, but I do. Obviously they would be locked up and kept out of reach of children (that we would teach safety to), but I would feel safer if we had one just in case.
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I don't know why, but we had one in my parents closet when I was younger. One horrible night my dad pulled it on us, but thankfully didn't end up pulling the trigger. It makes me he mixed feelings because I think about that experience, yet I still want to have one in our home locked away in a gun safe )that our kids wouldn't know about). I would like to have one as an added protection for the nights I'm alone. We already took a gun safety and shooting class, we just have yet to pull the trigger on a firearm purchase.
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I grew up in an area where pretty much everyone hunts. Most children in my hometown grow up knowing all about gun safety and their parents have guns in the home. My parents, however, didn't hunt and we didn't have guns in our home. I was around them a lot though, at friends', neighbors', and family members' houses.
We were actually required to take a gun safety class in middle school and shoot a hunting rifle at the end of the course (I think you had to get a parent's permission for the shooting part). I was terrified and I haven't shot a gun since that day.
I don't see my husband and I ever having guns in our home. He's never been around guns at all and although I feel familiar with gun safety, they still make me nervous. We just don't feel the need to have one, at least at the moment.
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Most families where I live have guns in the home. The reason for this is that military service is required for men and you are given your weapon and keep it in the home even if you are not actively serving.
We don't have a weapon in our home though, as my husband has completed his service requirement. -
No. My grandpa had one and my dad said he had to get rid of it or us kids weren't allowed to come over. So he told my dad he got rid of it.. and they found it in his closet when he passed away and they were cleaning everything out. My dad was pissed.
My husband and I don't know how to use a gun, so even in q gun safe it would cause more harm than good
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No. I get so scared every time I hear on the news about kids finding guns and their misuse of them. My husband does get worried about the possibility of something bad happening to us at home, and he keeps a baseball bat in our bedroom and foyer closet for protection. We also have a security alarm system, which also provides us with a peace of mind.
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Yes we do. I don't even know where they are because I know nothing about guns and they give me the creeps. I'll force my husband to put them in safes relatively soon since our son will be mobile within a few months.
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No, my husband wants one but it is not something I grew up with so it makes me uncomfortable so we don't have one ... yet.
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Yup, but that's pretty standard in military families. It's locked up, I THINK its in my husbands closet, haha. We don't have it for protection necessarily, we have it because my husband enjoys going to the range. Eventually I'll get my own so I can go with him (and participate) because his is too heavy/bulky for me.
Guns have never scared me. I didn't grow up with one in MY home but was still taught gun safety since my extended family are big into hunting.
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We have a gun in the house and we have biometric safe where it can only be opened by reading our fingerprints. We have talked to my daughter about guns and what they do and how they are not toys. We repeat it almost every day. We were out and a cop was behind us and she told him that he was allowed to carry a gun because he was a cop but she wasn't because she was a kid and guns were not toys to be played with. The cop was so impressed that he paid for our Starbucks order. Score! He said usually when he sees kids out, they want him to take his gun out and show them.
At first I didn't like it in the house. I grew up with them and my dad was the same way. There was no sugarcoating. He said, "this is a gun. If you play with it, you can kill someone and or/kill yourself. When you kill someone, they don't come back. They are gone forever. If I catch you touching this gun, your ass will be sore for a year." Yeah, I never was even curious about it. In fact, I always held my breath walking past the closet where it was. lol
So I don't feel uncomfortable anymore because we sat down and spoke to her about it. She's not curious. She thinks toy guns are silly because, "mommy, what's the point in pretend guns? Don't they just want to make kids want to play with the real ones when they get bored with the fake ones?"
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I also want to say that even if you don't have a gun in your house, it's very important to still teach your kids about gun safety as if there is one in the house. I don't want some of my daughters friends coming over later in life and being curious about the safe and what's in it.
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@Miss Adia: So true on that last part. Even knowing my sons friends parents and where they live doesn't mean I can know for sure if they do or don't have a gun..... I want DS to be able to always be a good friend & in any situation be able to show/tell them the right thing to do. If he knows gun safety and a friend pulls out a gun DS will know the appropriate thing to do.
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We don't yet but My dad always had guns. They were always locked in his room though. When we get a gun or guns we will definitely keep them in a proper safe and teach our children all about gun safety.
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Living in England, this questions isn't even applicable. I have to say (especially being from Texas!) I love that owning a gun isn't really even an option here. We'll talk to our kids about them, but would never have one- even if we moved back to the States. It's just not our style.
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Wow. The responses to this thread are totally mindblowing to me b/c I've never lived in a house with a gun, and would never think to have a gun in our house. I guess I was a little naive thinking that guns were just not that prevalent in homes. I agree that kids should be taught gun safety no matter what. My kids will be taught exactly what I was, which is that if you see a gun, just don't touch it. Period. Given that we don't have one in our house, I think that's the easiest way to handle the issue.
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To my knowledge my parents didn't have one, and DH and I don't either. We are the odd ones out in our group of friends though. All of them have guns and say that when we have kids we will understand why they want to have a gun in the house for protection. I don't think I would ever use one on anyone and DH has night terrors where he kind of hallucinates so a gun would definitely be dangerous to be within his reach then.
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We have a shotgun and a hand gun. I'm sniper status when it comes to shooting.
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OMG, no way! I can't believe so many of you have or had guns! It's so crazy to me! Maybe it's because I live in Canada...
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@Rubies: It also seems unusual to me and I live in the States. When I wanted to feel safer, I learned how to box.
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@Rubies: @mrbee: I didn't have a gun when i was living in CA, but I live in the south now. Everyone owns a gun out here. -.-
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My husband has a hand gun. Hopefully, after the first of the year we'll do some target shooting and I'll take a gun safety course to become more familiar with using it. I honestly don't even think about it being in the house. It's locked away out of sight. The last time my husband had it out was about 5 months ago. We were staying at the family farm, which has been empty for awhile since his Grandpa had a stroke and is in a nursing home. We were worried because the farm is pretty secluded and we weren't sure if we'd have any uninvited guests (teenagers looking for a party spot/squaters). We did-just a couple raccoon's and coyotes but we felt safer knowing we had some added protection on a relatively isolated farm.
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My parents didn't own a gun, but DH bought one a few years back when we were dating. I bought him a biometric safe for Christmas last year (and before that he kept it in a regular gun safe). I don't notice the difference between when we didn't have one and now. It is for DH's peace of mind and it stays out of my way in the gun safe.
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@Miss Adia: This is an awesome story! What a smart kid you have
My husband is a gun NUT. We have upwards of 20 guns in our house. And 3 bows, along with some pellet/bb guns and about a dozen knives or so. He was brought up in a hunting-enthusiastic family, and has hunted his entire life. He got a bowie knife for his fifth birthday (it was blunted though, thank goodness!) I even own a .380 pistol that I'd love to get my concealed handgun license with. I gifted my hubs with the class for his birthday, and I'm pretty excited that he'll be able to carry. You never know sometimes, what can happen.
We plan to educate our daughter on the serious perils of guns and weapons. That safety is our #1 concern.
Guns aren't toys, but they're not taboo either. Knives can kill just as easily. So can electricity. Or concussions. Guns don't kill, people kill, and it's important to remember that. Or maybe I'm just overly vigilant about the impending zombie apocalypse
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For those of you who are shocked by the number of people who have guns in their house it looks like between 32% and 39% of American homes have at least one gun. So, between 1 in 3 houses and 2 in 5. And mind you, these statistics wouldn't include illegal guns, so it could actually be higher...
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@Killer b: It is really hard to kill someone with a knife. Not sure I'd say it's just as easy...
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@mrbee: Go for the jugular, that'll get the job done!
...sorry, couldn't resist, lol.
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@Navy_Mommy: Killing someone with a knife requires much more experience and focus. I have shot guns and could easily kill with a gun. Knives are much tougher and messier.
I've been attacked with a knife and unless the other person really wants to kill you, they will tend to be tentative and are fairly easy to disarm or just to run away from.
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