Tested a few of my children this morning...

[Bigtanker]

I have the dark brown framed PF9. If I didn't have to work today, I'd let you borrow it for the test. The colored frame would be something different for them.

 

[I am the cheese]

Not a bad idea. Seems like you have done well to teach them how to be responsible around firearms. Too bad you couldn't try it in public somewhere with the brothers Glock.

 

[daddymikey1975]

Eddie the Eagle teaches kids to
Stop
Don't Touch
Leave the area
Tell an adult

This is a much safer approach than to let 3-4 year olds walk around with guns, no matter where they are pointed. IMO

I will look into Eddie the Eagle. I do not know (yet) if it is geared to younger children or toddlers, but I will certainly check it out.

I do not feel that my controlled tests were unsafe at any time. While rule #1 applies to every gun, I did clear them before we started. My children were supervised by myself and my wife when I left the room for the first test. I did not simply 'allow them to walk around with the guns' casually. It was a controlled situation to see what their normal reaction is or would be. I now am aware of the shortcomings and am able to adjust and instruct more thoroughly, and will do so. After some more time instructing them, I will test them again in a different manner, but supervised, and controlled. I will lather, rinse, and repeat until we get it right. I want my children to be able to safely handle firearms if they 'stumble across them'.. and by safely handle them, that means stop, don't touch, get an adult... etc.

Thanks for your input

Care to expound on these weak spots, so I know what to look for?

Nope I would, however, be more than willing to put your security system through the paces in a controlled fashion to find weaknesses, if you're open to the idea

Good tests.
I wounder what would happen if they found one of your gun while you are not at home (or when they think you're not at home anyway).
Since they're so young you probably never leave them all by themselves at home, but it could be interesting to see what they do if you tell them you have to run to the store for five minutes and leave your gun behind.

That I don't know. They are too young for me to leave them home alone, and since it would be children with access to a gun, unsupervised, I would be leery of trying it out.

If I could come up with a safe way to 'test' them, I certainly wouldn't mind just to see how they would react

Good job OP way to be a responsible gun owner and parent! But I would encourage the non touching of them when you are not in the room.

I will definitely expand and provide them with more learning opportunities.

The thing to keep in mind, is my youngest son is 4 and my daughter will be 3 at the end of Jan. They're very young, immature, and very inquisitive. The first thing they did was let an adult know that 'there's a gun laying there'.. Win #1 because they didn't just pick it up and play with it.

Secondly, my daughter brought it directly to me, safely. I get the idea that if it were loaded, this could have been very dangerous. Her personality is to be a 'big girl' and 'big helper' She did what I figured she'd do. I figured she would want to 'bring me' what is 'mine'.. so to speak. If I left my cell phone laying on the table, she would want to bring it to me. Same idea here. I now know that I need to teach her another way to be a big helper when it comes to guns and I will dilligently do so. I will find a way to use her personality to her advantage to keep her safe if she does find a gun laying around, and it happens to be loaded.

 

[daddymikey1975]

I have the dark brown framed PF9. If I didn't have to work today, I'd let you borrow it for the test. The colored frame would be something different for them.

My P-11 is OD green w/ blued slide

Not a black gun. My wife's bersa is the Chrome or nickle one too

Maybe in a couple weeks I'll be ready for another round of testing. I need to make sure they get it right. The emphasis will be on not touching them.

Now, I need to let them coon-finger the guns some more (safely) and emphasizing the safety rules, then leave them laying somewhere. When she tries to pick the gun up, my wife can help coach her to leave it there and go get dad or something to that nature.

 

[SkullDaddy.45]

Well sounds like you did a great job with the young ones, if I tried this with my kids when they were little ,my boy would of told me of my many mistakes and then informed me that he just called grandma and child services on my ass!

 

[Sylvain]

That I don't know. They are too young for me to leave them home alone, and since it would be children with access to a gun, unsupervised, I would be leery of trying it out.

If I could come up with a safe way to 'test' them, I certainly wouldn't mind just to see how they would react

Of course im not telling you to leave your kids all by themselves with unsecured guns.

You need to turn a closet into an obesrvation room with a one-way mirror on the door.

 

[daddymikey1975]

Well sounds like you did a great job with the young ones, if I tried this with my kids when they were little ,my boy would of told me of my many mistakes and then informed me that he just called grandma and child services on my ass!

That's a riot !! (after I sent my 10 year old into the bathroom and told him that he passed the test, he was VERY curious to see if the 2 little ones would pass as well)

My 2 oldest boys are very safe with guns. Here's a couple videos for your pleasure. The first one, is my 13 year old shooting an AR for the first time. The second one, is my 10 year old shooting an FN SCAR (this was the second time that day that he shot the SCAR). The older boys get it and are very safe. I wanted to see how much more instruction my young ones still needed.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajJ6dwg7RtE[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sru2-n33GAs[/ame]

 

[daddymikey1975]

Of course im not telling you to leave your kids all by themselves with unsecured guns.

I understand that part

You need to turn a closet into an obesrvation room with a one-way mirror on the door.

That might not be a bad idea... the problem lies in when to hide in the closet.. the kids would see that and want to come in too

 

[Sylvain]

I understand that part



That might not be a bad idea... the problem lies in when to hide in the closet.. the kids would see that and want to come in too

You tell them you're going out, you slam the door and go hide in the closet.
You might learn a few things about the wife too if you dont tell her about the closet.

 

[daddymikey1975]

You tell them you're going out, you slam the door and go hide in the closet.
You might learn a few things about the wife too if you dont tell her about the closet.

 

[Rocket]

Also, in training kids I have told mine to call me immediately if they are at a friends house and the friend says anything resembling, "I know where a gun is do you want to see it?"
ANY time ANY where I will go pick them up. As well as to answer any questions from friends regarding guns at home. "Sorry don't have any" then they are to notify me as quickly and quietly as possible.

 

[daddymikey1975]

Also, in training kids I have told mine to call me immediately if they are at a friends house and the friend says anything resembling, "I know where a gun is do you want to see it?"
ANY time ANY where I will go pick them up. As well as to answer any questions from friends regarding guns at home. "Sorry don't have any" then they are to notify me as quickly and quietly as possible.

My older boys are trained this way as well. The children I was more interested in testing this morning are almost 3 and 4.

 

[Sonick]

Interesting. If those where my kids, I would have considered all of the test where the kids touched the gun a fail.

Kids/parents need to be comfortable with their childs gun safety/knowledge. Let's change the scenario a bit. If you always preach to your kids to never touch your guns and don't teach them how to safely use them... what happens when your pistol is on your coffee table and someone breaks in and immediately knocks you out? May be good for the youngins to know how to operate it and not be scared of it.

Better to teach a child gun safety than to make them scared to touch them.

 

[BravoMike]

Kids/parents need to be comfortable with their childs gun safety/knowledge. Let's change the scenario a bit. If you always preach to your kids to never touch your guns and don't teach them how to safely use them... what happens when your pistol is on your coffee table and someone breaks in and immediately knocks you out? May be good for the youngins to know how to operate it and not be scared of it.

Better to teach a child gun safety than to make them scared to touch them.

Really? For a 3 and 4 year old?

Oh and where did I say that you should teach your kids to be scared of the gun? I do think that they should be taught what the consequences are and to be respectful of the gun.

IMO, the responsible age to teach a kid the self-defense use of a gun differs with the maturity of each kid.

 

[Sylvain]

Really? For a 3 and 4 year old?

This ^^.

 

[Sonick]

Why does age matter? When my boys were 3 or 4 they knew not to touch my guns but also knew what to do if they found them laying around. Should the kids be carrying the guns around? No not really. But should they be scared of them to the point they won't touch them? HELL NO!

The kids age I guess didn't sink in or my original response would have been a little different, but not totally different. I definitely think that at age 3-4 kids still need to have an understanding of guns and what they are capable of and why they shouldn't be handling them.

 

[Sylvain]

Why does age matter? When my boys were 3 or 4 they knew not to touch my guns but also knew what to do if they found them laying around. Should the kids be carrying the guns around? No not really. But should they be scared of them to the point they won't touch them? HELL NO!

The kids age I guess didn't sink in or my original response would have been a little different, but not totally different. I definitely think that at age 3-4 kids still need to have an understanding of guns and what they are capable of and why they shouldn't be handling them.

They should understand why they shouldn't handle them HAND learn how to use them?

 

[Sonick]

I didn't say anything about learning how to use them. Knowing what they are capable of and knowing how to use them is two completely different things.

 

[daddymikey1975]

Why does age matter? When my boys were 3 or 4 they knew not to touch my guns but also knew what to do if they found them laying around. Should the kids be carrying the guns around? No not really.

My children weren't "carrying the guns around".. She brought me the gun she found. Just like she would have brought me my keys or cell phone. She didn't go upstairs with it to show her brothers, didn't take it in her bedroom to show her baby doll, didn't take it in the bathroom while she pooped.. she brought it directly to me. It was less than 20 feet. My son came and told me and his sister followed with the gun cradled.

This wasn't the 'ideal' handling procedure, or protocol. I'll give you that. But, until a person is put in a situation, they do not know how they will react in that situation. So, I carefully, and in a controlled manner, put my 2 youngest, most immature children, into a situation where they're faced with one of my guns laying on the floor to see how they respond.

I can improvise and teach them based on their response. Is THIS ideal? YES. I now know what they would do, and can adjust accordingly.

It's like putting yourself in a training class for self defense. Do you know how you would react if someone came into your living room barging through the door? I bet with airsoft pistols, and a willing partner you could find out

 

[Sylvain]

I didn't say anything about learning how to use them. Knowing what they are capable of and knowing how to use them is two completely different things.

I think you did.

May be good for the youngins to know how to operate it and not be scared of it.