Teaching kids about gun safety

[racrguy]

So, I'm moving to PA and the friend I'm moving in with has a 6 year old little girl and I'm taking my shotgun with me. Obviously she's too small to take out shooting with it to show her just how deadly they are, but I'd like her to know what it is, and to keep her hands off of it. This isn't something I've run into before, she has NO experience with guns whatsoever. How would y'all go about doing it?

[jones4stangs]

Any kinds of locks involved? Loaded or unloaded?

[YALE]

Shotguns are easy to lock out. Put a cable lock through the action. Then go buy her a cricket .22, a lock, a cleaning kit, earmuff hearing protection, shooting glasses, and a brick of cheap ammo, and teach her to shoot.

[racrguy]

That's another issue I'm faced with, how to have the gun loaded and ready to chamber and easily accessible by an adult, yet not where a child can get to it. As it stands the gun will be unloaded because of a lack of a safe/trigger lock. Which would be better in y'alls opinion? This is the only firearm in the house so it's the main defense weapon.

[David]

My dad told me that these are for killing. Dont play with it.

All it took.

[Moose242]

Shotguns are easy to lock out. Put a cable lock through the action. Then go buy her a cricket .22, a lock, a cleaning kit, earmuff hearing protection, shooting glasses, and a brick of cheap ammo, and teach her to shoot.

This.

[GrayStangGT]

I haven't really seen anything that is quick access and keeps a shotgun locked up. However if you've got a pistol look into getting a gun vault, its probably the fastest way to have access to a loaded pistol while keeping it locked up from kids.

http://www.gunvault.com/handgun-safes/mini-mini-deluxe.html

If it was your own kid I would say just teach her good gun safety and emphasize the destructive nature of a gun, but with someone elses kid I would keep it locked.

[racrguy]

Thanks for the help guys, I'll be sure to show it to her and explain to her what it is. Now, off to find a breech lock for a semi auto shotty.

[Machx2]

Hide it in the top of a closet and keep your room locked?

[BlackSnake]

Best thing to do in my opinion is to keep your guns PUT UP and LOCKED. To start off with, take her out and shoot a watermelon up close. Kids need visuals sometimes.

I had told my kids when they were little one's that if I ever caught them trying to get at one of my guns that I would give then the ass whooping of their lives. Of course this is not your kid, so keep them put away.

My kids are grown and I have tough them as best as I knew how, and I still teach them to this day. You just cant be careful enough with guns. Its hard to get a second chance after a accident with them.

[2000 vert]

I did what my dad did with me. Make sure the child knows the gun is there, what it can do, and assume they are all loaded. Teach them about guns and they will know better.

[EW]

NRA has Eddie Eagle program. I have not seen it so I don't know what the content is but it is a child safety program.

[HarrisonTX]

Hide it in the top of a closet and keep your room locked?

I'm against hiding.

Let her play with it all she wants.

Hear me out on this.

If she is curious, she will ask about it, as most kids would.
Teach her about it, and let her get the curiosity out.
If its hidden, and she finds it, or she sees it and is curious about it, she will play with it on her own. Let her get the curiousness out while you're around, and in a controlled environment.

Every time she comes and says "uncle racrguy, can i see the shotgun" you've just gotta drop what you're doing, and let her see it.

A locked gun is a club. I dont see the point in even having a shotgun for home defense if you're going to lock it.

[YALE]

Sean, don't forget to register over at forum.pafoa.org. That's a great board, with a ton of knowledge. You may want some of the ins and outs of PA law, regarding guns in the same home as a child. This is a pretty liberal state when it comes to gun laws (for the area), but the flip side of the coin is, there still isn't a big gun culture, and the cops are fucking twitchy about firearms violations. They move fast. One guy with a CHL went to a continuing education class at a tech center (not a public school), left his gun in the car, and got arrested for having a gun on school property. He told a classmate, and they called 911. Don't draw attention to yourself as a gun owner if you don't have to.

[0 GT 2]

When I first was around guns as a kid we brought sheetrock out to a field and I watched it get tore up. Did the trick for me. Clean the gun with her and be sure to reiterate to always treat the gun like it's loaded.

Most kids mess with guns because they know they're not supposed to and curiosity. Just be up front and things should be okay.