Quote:
Originally Posted by Taribor
I'm not saying don't own a gun if you have kids (I do). But I am saying that having a loaded weapon within unsupervised access to a child is flat out irresponsible and indefensible. A ten year old does not possess the judgement to be 100% trusted at all times, unsupervised (i.e. loaded in the bedside table where he/she can get to it during the day unsupervised) around a loaded weapon, I don't care how many kiddie NRA classes they have been to, or how early in infancy they began hearing about gun safety. I know a parent who claims he keeps his gun loaded but secures it evey morning.....I guess that is a better than nothing, but I have to question how many times he forgets to secure his weapon while in a rush for work. It only takes one sequence of events to make a bad day.
My alarm, dog, locks, and exterior lights are my first line of defense; if someone makes it past that, then I will have had plenty of heads up to take the 30 seconds it takes to remove the child trigger lock from my Glock. That was my point with my comment about having another line of self-defense first.
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Oh! Well, I misunderstood your original statement then.
I thought you meant to say that people who have kids shouldn't have guns at all.
I agree with your statement here. Buried in previous replies, I too have emphasized that I do not advise people having a loaded gun in the house.
I suppose we could nit-pick on what we consider is the definition of "trained" but in the end, we're all human beings, and accidents do happen. And as you say, that's all the reason why it's so important to realize that firearm safety is the top priority, and to also never rely on firearms exclusively for your protection.
Yeah, I believe that self-defense should be approached holistically, as a multi-layered approach. Firearms is only one of many factors to consider, and in my mind, it's not even the most important ones.