Friday's Thoughts and Other Stuff (Firearm Safety)

Dear Preppers and Survivalists,

A Serb commander

puts a gun to the head of his son

as he and his friends joke around

while waiting for a prisoner exchange

near Sarajevo (ca 1992)

photograph by

Mikhail Eystafiev

Firearm's Safety

Some people, correctly so, would point out that this is an anti-freedom (gun control) comic, but it also shows that household chemicals, medicine, and firearms should be kept out of the reach of children.

Well, ... we don't ban household chemical or medicine to protect our children. We teach our children about the dangers of household chemicals, medicines, and ... firearms.

In other words, we ...


Gun-Proof Our Children
The National Rifle Association probably has the best gun-proofing campaign on this planet!

O.K. that's a little too much hyperbole, but it is the most popular programs used by many different police departments, schools, and other organizations. It was even ripped off by an anti-gun group!

And, ... It's simple:

Stop

Don't Touch

Run Away

Tell a Grown-Up

Link:
NRA - Eddie the Eagle GunSafe Program
https://eddieeagle.nra.org/

Problem
Every few years, one of the National News Exposé programs will have a segment about the Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program, and how it doesn't work.

In the segment, the children will be shown learning the NRA's program then later in the show, the children (individually and in groups) will be exposed to situations taught in the program. Needless to say, the children are shown to have failed to learn Eddie the Eagle's lessons.

Well, da! I don't learn anything important in one lesson either, and that's the problem.

You and your partner have to continually teach your children firearm's safety, and provide ...


Safe Storage
Yes, these United States Bill of Rights doesn't say anything about you and your family being required to safely store you firearms, and you don't. If you want to leave a loaded firearm around a group of kids, do it. Just don't expect any sympathy, when one of your children or a neighbor's child dies from a preventable negligent discharge, from the jury, an angry partner, or a vengeful neighbor

For more responsible readers, there are numerous methods of safely storing your firearms.

One is the old 'Stick it on a Shelf.'

It works, but kids are curious. They will drag a chair over and remove the gun from the shelf. This may or may not cause the firearm to drop to the ground and negligently discharge.

Another is the old 'Hide it in a Drawer.'

This method works, too. Until, the children get curious and start opening drawers searching for your defensive firearm with the same results, a hole in the house or a child.

Another is the 'Box with a Lock,'

There are many inexpensive metal security cabinets. All of these cabinets can be secured to the floor or wall and have a lock that will prevent children and unauthorized adults from accessing your family's firearms. They come in a variety of sizes and different options. One company is Stack-On.

Link:
Stack-On: Products - Security Cabinets
https://www.stack-on.com/categories/security-cabinets

Problems
There are problems with these inexpensive metal cabinets. They are relatively easy to break into by a determined individual. Plus, you have to secure the key that means not putting the key on a high shelf or hiding the key in a drawer.


Teaching
Needless to say, there are many different and more expensive options for securing your family's firearms from such companies such as Liberty Safes, Fort Knox Vaults, Mesa Safe, Sentry Safe, and many others.

But, ... All of these products will fail, unless you teach your children about safely handling firearms.

Tech Sgt. Keith Rumler Assists his Son

with a M249 S.A.W. during Job Shadow Day

at Kapaun Air Station, Germany (ca 2010)

photograph by

Airman 1st Class Desiree Esposito

The 'Rules'
Once again the National Rifle Association is the leader in the effort of safely teaching you and your family about firearm safety. Their rules:

ALWAYS keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.

ALWAYS keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot. 

ALWAYS keep the gun unloaded until ready to use.

Link:
National Rifle Association - NRA Gun Safety Rules
http://training.nra.org/nra-gun-safety-rules.aspx

Problems
For various reasons, there are problems with these rules.

First, if you're keeping a firearm for defensive reasons, you want the handgun, rifle, or shotgun loaded at all times.

Second, these three rules don't cover some specific situations, such as rules related to your behavior, rules related to ammunition, rules related to your target, and rules related to others things.

Link:
HandGunLaws.us - Gun Safety.pdf
http://www.handgunlaw.us/documents/GunSafety.pdf


Problems, Part Two
Of course, rules for specific situations make it difficult to easily teach your children and partner about firearm safety. Plus, there are folks that slightly disagree with the NRA, so they have their own rules.

Link:
The Gun Zone - "The Rules"
http://www.thegunzone.com/therules.html


Modeling and Correction
Either way, you and your partner also need to model these skills for your children because, just like the father and son bus trip honesty story. You children learn by watching you.

Plus, you need to allow them to correct you, on your unsafe practices.


Practice
Lastly, you, your partner, and your children need to practice these skills to be safe with your family's firearms, be it a handgun, rifle, shotgun, air rifle, BB gun, Nerf Gun, or other weapon.


Say Uncle
Thanks to Say Uncle, we have one more rule:

Never Try to Catch a Falling Gun!




Father and Son Bus Trip Story
A father and son were waiting for the city bus one day discussing the son's up coming 14th birthday when they got to talking about honesty.

The father explained the importance of honesty. How honesty is important for society, and it's the mark of a man. The father told the son about some of his tough decisions about honesty when the bus arrived.

As the Bus door opened, the father saw the sign "12 and under Ride for Free"

The man looked at his son and said "Tell the bus driver you're twelve" as they walked on the bus.

What did you think the child really learned?