"G. Morgan" wrote in message
...
Attila.Iskander wrote:

It's simple. If you live in a household with guns, and have kids
in the same household; the firearms need to be secured in a way
that the kid (even a smart, older one) can not gain access. That
means, buy a commercial-grade safe with a combination kept secret
if necessary.

Agreed for the younger ages
Disagree for when they get older
At that point, it's wiser to start teaching them safety and shooting
skills
instead.
There was a study published a few years back, that showed that kids
who
received firearm training and participated in shooting sports had lower
incidence of juvenile crime and teenage pregnancy and not only did better
in
school, but also completed High School and went on to University, compared
to all other child groupings

I agree that the 'fascination' factor has to be dealt with at an
early age. Preferably, schedule range time (or private property
if you are lucky enough to have access) where the kids shoot
watermelons and ice blocks to demonstrate the destructive power.
They need to know its not like TV. I don't know if you can say 5
y/o is the age, I would base it on the individual kid.

The option to allow your kid the combination is a personal choice.
You don't want a perfectly capable person from defending his life
if he's alone during a break-in. But you will also have the extra
liability if the kid uses it for other than self-defense. Again,
I would base the decision on the individual kid, not a particular
age. A teenage mind (especially boys) is not fully 'wired' for
reason vs. emotion, it all depends on the maturity level IMO.


I agree with the fact that teenagers, both boys AND girls, go though phases
where the brains seem disconnected (Just referee some soccer games with 14
to 19 year olds for proof) .
But that can be countered in just about all cases, with training.
When they go though the brain shutdown periods, muscle memory and rote
training works quite well to overcome lack of thought and reason.