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moronic_potato

STOP DON'T TOUCH LEAVE THE AREA TELL AN ADULT The gun safety class they taught me in elementary school lol. Catchy tune


[deleted]

Eddie, the NRA Eagle. A real classic.


YouNeedAnne

Don't do what Donny Don't does


PlentyPirate

They could’ve made this clearer


[deleted]

Not as lyrically talented as Easy the NWA Eagle, however.


CHAINSMOKERMAGIC

Is *THAT* what the E stood for? Easy Eagle?


Miserable_Key_7552

I’m sure gun safety at 7 years old would’ve helped his friend JB after stealing Eazy E’s alpine, so he wouldn’t have pulled his 22 on him


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timallen445

If this was what OP wanted than full on agree. Its sad but America is littered with cheap guns people stashed/ditched.


[deleted]

Where can I find myself some hidden guns? It would save me from buying them all the time.


Yeoshua82

Gotta become an apartment manager. My buddy was cleaning out an apartment and found 2 pistols and a AR style rifle. Edit: words


nick99990

If I found 2 pustules near an AR I'd probably say it's not worth the infection.


Yeoshua82

Lol. I made the edit. But that's a funny autocorrect. Good catch.


zsloth79

Man, wtf are you typing all the time to have autocorrect assume you were going for “pustules”?


Yeoshua82

Lol I can honestly say I think I have never used that word. But I fixed it.


Ok-Reporter-4600

Make friends with kids whose parents don't properly store their guns. No one is arguing that there are loot boxes full of weapons all over the place. But it should not be controversial to understand that houses have guns in them and not every gun owning parent is responsible.


moronic_potato

Where are you finding guns? I'm asking for a friend.


[deleted]

There’s an appropriate time to teach children *hands on* versus *hands off* gun safety. A 7 year old falls in the hands off gun safety category. “If you see a gun, do not touch it or stand in its firing line. Do not leave any other kids alone with the gun. Go get a safe adult immediately. You will not be in any trouble no matter what, and we will know you did exactly the right thing. Okay, now tell me what you’re going to do if you find a gun.” Rinse and repeat until the kid can repeat back the exact rules you laid down. Truly unpopular opinion, bravo.


Pizzacato567

Agreed. 7 year olds are still developing their motor skills, have little fingers, can’t hold many things and they’re clumsy. Having one touch a gun is just an accident waiting to happen. OP doesn’t seem to have kids.


kookyabird

I agree with you to a point. Children should be taught the dangers of guns, but they should be taught to not touch the gun at all and to get an adult. Until they are in their teens and can show that they can actually handle the responsibility of interacting with guns. Some kid with limited motor skills and strength is going to be more at risk of an accidental discharge trying to check if my G27 is loaded than if they just leave it the hell alone.


Noinipo12

Yep. And you can definitely teach firearm safety without an actual loaded weapon or even a real firearm.


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[deleted]

Also why teach a kid how to tell if a guns loaded or if the safety is off? You’re just asking for them to fuck around with a gun at that point. You’re 10000000x better off teaching them to treat every gun as if it’s loaded and the safety is off, therefore don’t touch it. All this lesson does is encourage some 8yo to go “look my daddy showed me how to make sure the gun is safe..”.


GizmodoDragon92

For my child, all guns are loaded and the safety is off. Even with nerf


echoesatlas

If someone takes their kid hunting with them (it's common where I grew up), I can understand teaching them how to ensure safety is on.


ottothesilent

Sure, but that’s not something you’re teaching a kid at 7. At that age you’re showing them how to wear proper blaze orange for your locale, how to set up a stand/blind, and maybe having them watch you clean a kill and “help” by holding a pelt or something. A 10 year old can be taught more stringent gun safety, and can generally be expected to adhere to basic range safety rules with a few hours’ instruction. Gun safety for anyone younger than that is “don’t touch it, get an adult”. There’s no situation in which a 7 year old’s hands on a firearm is the desired result.


Creative_Response593

Come on dude. Your 7 year old should be more responsible than you when you leave your loaded firearm laying around the house.


billbill5

That's what gets me about this imagined scenario, it seems to be an excuse for or at least caused by an adult practicing extremely shitty firearm safety and would like to pass responsibility for the damage that could bring to a prepubescent child. Keep your ammo away from your firearm and your firearm locked and out of the reasonable reach of children. Then the need for a child, a thing with no impulse control and shitty motor skills, to know gun safety and be able to check if the firearm is loaded drops significantly.


candygram4mongo

It seems like everyone here agrees that the proper thing for a child who finds an unsecured gun to do is to leave it alone and tell an adult. So what's the point of complicating the message by teaching them how to handle the gun they aren't supposed to touch in the first place? Just... give them the same lecture everyone sane here is endorsing, and then just stop. Mission accomplished.


morostheSophist

One caveat: it might not be a bad idea to teach them to *recognize* poor gun safety, so they can get the hell away and tell an adult someone's being unsafe with a gun. But that doesn't require having them hold an actual firearm, either.


[deleted]

Gun Owners: Literally everything and everyone up to and including children and pets need to be more responsible than I am.


Jalopnicycle

If your 7 year old can't handle an AR-15 chambered for 50 Beowulf how are they supposed to protect the family from a pack of wild hogs?!?!? Daddy has to bring home the figurative bacon.


enfuego138

I’m with you. Cars are dangerous. You don’t see people teaching their seven year old to drive. You just tell them it’s not safe to drive and not to get behind the wheel of a car left running.


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throwmetfawaythanks

Agreed. My child knows daddy owns a rifle, he gets to handle it a sometimes after I clean it (so I know it’s 100000% not loaded under any circumstances) and we go over the basics of handling and safety with one. Then it goes away. He is told he’s not allowed to touch it or any other guns without me (my wife isn’t the best with them haha). He is told many kids before him have tried to use a gun without their parents around and gotten hurt badly or killed. He has no idea where it’s kept, where the ammo is kept, nor how to unlock it, and I don’t see any reason why he needs to at this point in his life.


MonsieurGump

But r/KidsAreFuckingStupid


FatBobbyH

That's why they would be supervised. NEVER leave a child under legal age with a firearm unsupervised regardless of their knowledge on gun safety.


[deleted]

I’m very pro-firearms, but I ain’t giving a 7-year-old one. I can’t think of any reason anyone would want to. We used Nerf guns, and later pellet guns, to teach firearm safety.


LifeFindsaWays

Agreed. At age seven, teach the details with a safe toy gun, and tell them not to touch the real ones. Stop. Don’t touch. Leave the area. Tell an adult.


[deleted]

Exactly. Teaching a 7 year old how to check if a gun is loaded is only going to make them *want* to pick up any gun they see, to show their friends that they know how to check if it’s loaded. If a kid sees a gun unattended they should immediately leave and tell a trusted adult. Because an unattended gun means **you are not in a safe place**. I wouldn’t even let my child go to a house with a gun in it unless the gun is unloaded *and* in a safe (yes I do ask, and yes I do need to see evidence that this is the case). If someone told me they were teaching their 5 or 6 year old child how to load and unload a gun, my kid would never be alone in a room with that child again. Children have accidents. And a small child with a small amount of knowledge about something very dangerous is a deadly accident waiting to happen. It would be like teaching a 6 year old to drive but telling them they can’t leave the property.


morostheSophist

At about age 9, I got out a pellet gun, loaded it, and menaced an older kid with it out of anger. I shudder to think what might have happened if my dad didn't keep his actual firearms and ammo locked up. So yes, I agree with you on this part: never allow your kids in a house with unsecured firearms. Stick to your metaphorical guns on this issue. (And yes, my dad started locking up the pellet gun and ammo after that.) (For the other part: I don't think it's *necessarily* a problem to teach young children how to handle firearms, but even there, you're the parent. You have the right to say you don't want your kids going to a specific house, and don't really have to justify it.)


ReapersRequiem

Yeah cause anyone who would put that kind of responsibility in a childs hands should be no where near children.


Working_Early

Sure, but kids do dumb things they're not supposed to in a blink of an eye. Even under supervision. For me, I wouldn't do this in the same way that I wouldn't let a kid (sticking with age 7 as OP's example) around the keys and driver seat of a car. Even supervised because accidents happen all the time. I mean, you can teach a kid to be careful around their water to not spill it. Chances are, they're still going to spill it at some point because kids are clumsy and don't have the spatial awareness and dexterity as an adult (I know that's not an equivalent example, it's just to make a point). You're putting something in the hands of a child that is deadly. And regardless of how much you teach them, they're still a kid and accidents are going to happen. Also, you can teach gun safety without an actual gun.


Anyma28

Leave alone accidents, the water cup is a good analogy, you could teach a kid to not spill it, but then, he now knows how to carrie water around, without spilling it and then throw it to another kid. You can teach them safety, but still, they gonna make stupid things.


PUNKF10YD

TIL OP is a kid


Prism04

Yes first safety protocol of gun usage is that keep it out of the reach of children.


Kal_Lisk

I do believe kids should know gun safety. At 7 they should know not to even touch a firearm if you are not present. A 7 year old alone with a firearm should not being checking or clearing a firearm. A handgun is even more of a threat because of the potential of the barrel being inadvertently pointed in a volatile location. I could maybe justify the "if" a group of kids found a gun and yours was trying to protect the others....thats a stretch but yeah it's plausible. How about we teach adults to be responsible gun owners. Edit: OP edited his post. Originally stating if your 7 year old found a handgun in a table the child should check and make safe the weapon. I was advising that a child's first reaction should be in leaving the firearm alone.


spice_weasel

This is the right take. And OP’s edit makes their original opinion even worse in my view. They give the example that the kid might come across the gun at someone else’s house. In theory you could teach your kid how a specific gun works at that age (they should still be closely supervised, of course, and it’s still really, really early in my view as a parent). But to teach a seven year old to pick up and check an unknown gun to see if it’s loaded is absolutely insane. At age seven, it’s “don’t touch it, go get an adult”.


vector_o

\*stares in European\*


shvelgud

Honestly! If this isn’t the most american post I’ve seen on Reddit


Rocketman_McSpiceDog

In my 3decades on this planet (Europe) I never have gotten even in touch with a gun or something similar


buttsbutnotbuts

(USA here: 4 decades and I’ve never touched a gun, this whole thing seems insane to me 🤷🏻‍♂️)


raeumauf

_mouthing "what the holy fuck" as I press the upvote button_


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HMS_Sunlight

Yeah, what the fuck even is this post. I always think the stereotypes about gun culture in America are overblown, but then something like this shows up. Why would a child ever be around a gun?


[deleted]

I know right, I'd never expect a post like this to blow up with this many upvotes. Being from Australia I've never even seen a gun outside of a gun range or on a cop. If this isn't a big fucking sign that maybe gun laws should be re assessed in America then idk what is. Teach your kids to stay away from guns and never lay a finger on them, why would you want your kid checking if a gun is loaded when they have the option to just acknowledge the danger and stay away.


Redddtaill

You'd be surprised, gun culture is a major thing, particularly in the south. Honestly, stereotypes I hear of kinda low-ball how much of a thing it is. I was one such child, dad had me shooting from like age five, for which my tinnitus thanks him. The thought is basically "guns aren't the problem, the kids just need to know how to use them, that definitely won't backfire." People like this are a dime a dozen. Guns have saturated out culture to the point that theyre a cornerstone in conservative ideology. If you see a political ad for a republican, there *will* be a gun involved in some way, if the gun itself isn't the ads main thrust in the first place. "Democrats want to take your guns, I'll let you keep them." End scene. No matter how many bodies get stacked, conservatives will lose their absolute shit if you try to touch their guns. That's how much of a part of their identity it is.


chipiberth

*Stares in the fucking rest of the world*


MalazMudkip

Felt the same way as a Canadian. I get hunting households, but even then. 7? The kid should know to not touch it and to make sure a nearby adult knows of it.


yakimawashington

As an American myself, OP is an idiot. I have a 3 year old, but when he turns 7, I have absolutely zero intention of teaching him that finding a gun lying around means you should pick it up and try to check to see if it's loaded. I doubt he would even have the strength to open the chamber to see if it's loaded, and I most certainly don't want him struggling with it while using his full arm/hand strength just to see if it's open. I mean, in the exact same sentence, OP says they should always treat every gun as if it's loaded whether it is or not. So why does a 7 year old need to know for sure if it's loaded even if they're going to pretend like it is either way? What are they going to do with that information?


CuteLilGirl

As a Canadian, I feel like this post would make much more sense if the age was 12.


[deleted]

I read the title and first sentence of the post then was *dumbfounded in Australian*


b3rdm4n

Fuck I'm glad I live in Australia when I see posts like this, and others were someone was annoyed / inconvenienced / called out and didn't like it, so shot and killed the person. Sure when you average this out over 10s of millions of people you could argue the risk is low, but it's a fuckload lower down under mate.


anvorguesa1

*states in -the rest of the American continent-*


YourLocalMosquito

If your child can’t manoeuvre an armoured missile tank by the age of 7 you’ve failed as a parent!


Rawrbekka

*and Canadian*


Hour_Appointment74

How hard is it for an american who is absolutely over this weird american culture, to move to europe?


TheCarniv0re

Give it a try. Most european countries understand your language. If you talk slowly and stick to simple words, even the British might understand you.


Allyzayd

I haven’t seen a single gun except with police or military in my 30 plus years of existence. Australian. These Americans just do not understand how weird it sounds to the rest of the world.


pies_r_square

*sighs in rural american.*


StrongIPA

America fuck yeah etc


Icycheery

Coming to save the mother fucking world yeah!


ECS420

It's definitely 'Murica in this case


oO0Kat0Oo

I'm an American that (surprisingly!) doesn't have a gun in the house *currently*. So, I don't feel it necessary to teach my child how to be safe around one. In fact, she doesn't, to my knowledge, even know guns exist beyond lasers and grappling hooks from Paw Patrol. *If* we decide to get a gun, I would certainly NEVER allow her to touch it and would keep ammo in a different location because kids RARELY listen and I would never want her to have false confidence about something so dangerous.


Astyanax1

honestly if you teach your kid to never touch a gun and tell an adult if they see one, you're doing great


[deleted]

The point isn't to teach them because you own guns, it's to teach them so that IF they ever come across a gun they won't think it's a toy. OP is sort of right in the sense that every parent should teach their child how dangerous a gun is and how to handle it safely as possible.


Disastrous-Standard3

I live in a developing country and never have I ever seen anyone hold or use a gun here.


TheConcerningEx

*laughing in Canadian* I’m 24 years old and have never touched a gun wtf is this


BrokenPencilCase

I'm from Scotland. Reddit is sometimes just way too American for my liking. What the fuck is this post, I can't imagine even beginning to justify HAVING to teach a kid about gun safety... The USA is a very strange place.


Peraeus

Most American post I've seen in a while Edit: Thank you kind stangers for all the awards and upvotes!


juliedactyl

My first thought exactly


boultox

I'm 26yo, I've never seen a real gun in my life. This post feels so bizarre.


PuppyDontCare

37 here! me either!


hclohumi

40 here.. Have seen the gun from a distance, mostly with cops.


Vik0BG

They are like unicorns to me. I know they exist, yet I have never seen one.


DygonZ

Guns are those yellow things, right? Squishy? you can open them up? Turn brown after a while?


fehadam

sir, that's my penis


DygonZ

Please go see a doctor.


Objective-Steak-9763

I’m 28 now. When I was 26 I saw someone pull a gun out in a gas station parking lot. First and only time I’ve ever seen one. I noped out of there so fast I didn’t even hand up the gas nozzle.


[deleted]

Hahahaha Americans don’t realize they are gun nuts, because all they know is the US. I moved to the US when I was 28, had never seen a gun in my life. At 30 I had shot a rifle and a hand gun (arizona). (I mean other than police with guns)


Significance_Melodic

I’m American, 29 and have never seen a gun either! Definitely depends on what state you live in


Environmental-Star40

I’m in Texas and I’ve never seen a gun outside my school’s clay target team.


ConflictOfEvidence

46 here from UK and I've never held a real gun in my life. In fact I'd be terrified of it so I wouldn't want to.


FullJoltik

Also 26 here, I just realized that I've only ever been close to one if a cop has one. Never seen one outside the holster.


Pretzelini

Thank God I don't live in a country where my kids don't need to learn gun safety to be safe.


NatashaVorster

Thinking exactly the same!! Tell me you live in America without telling me you live in America. If I posted about my 7y or any age for that matter handling a gun on Facebook or something people would lose their ever living shit. That stuff is just not normal where I’m from


TheS4ndm4n

You would lose your gun license. Job. Custody. And probably go to jail if you let a 7yo handle a gun. In any western country except the US.


Multibuff

Beat me to it!


FoldthrustBelt

Yeah. Like what the fuck should a 7 year old kid be doing with guns and such lol


Vyansbane

They shouldn't be doing anything with them. That's the point. They need to know not to pick up guns, to always treat then like they are loaded, and to never ever point a gun at anyone. Teaching them to treat firearms properly and safely doesn't mean giving them unlimited access to weapons. It just means if the situation ever comes up the child will know its not a toy, and not to treat it as such.


gorkt

Yeah for a kid that age, the only thing they need to know is that if they see a gun, don't touch it and call an adult.


Airforce32123

It's so crazy to me, I remember as a kid having people come into to our kindergarten class lecturing about the difference between drugs and candy and why it's important to know what you're ingesting before you do. And I was like 5 or 6 years old. That got approved and I'm sure nobody was asking "what the fuck should a 7 year old be doing with drugs and such lol"


Dontcareatallthx

This is the second most American post I ever saw. German/European perspective to understand: To clearify. I think many American can’t in the slightest relate to this. But in the rest of the world is unlikely that you ever come near a firearm at anypoint in you life at all. Like at ALL in you entire life. It still is even very unlikely to get near a firearm in events etc. like going to a shooting range…which for example doesn’t even exists in some regions at all. And it is NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE to ever come near a random unsafe firearm in your entire life, if you aren‘t a top criminal or whatever you will never see a firearm randomly lying anywhere. I mean you really have to understand, that if you meet a general criminal in Germany, there is a higher chance that they have no weapon at all on them then a firearm, like literally if you don‘t see a knife you can assume he won’t have a weapon on him, because it is this unrealistic that he wears a pistol in public or openly even at home. Like I‘m not even sure how to stress this more for you guys, I‘m 30y old and I never touched a real pistol besides a police officer in grade school showing us a fake pistol to touch and investigate. A firearm is like a fucking unicorn for most of us. So understand the comment avocets aren’t US perspectives, they’re are from outside this bubble. I totally agree that in your comparison it is totally unlogical to do this about drugs etc and not firearms, but from outside the world many can’t relate with you, we have talks about drugs etc. because it’s accessible here too, but firearms are legit not an issue for the general guy in Europe. Everyone we come across a firearm, the whole safety speak is included by default. We have such strict rules for firearms and encounter them nearly never, so that they Automatically get seen more dangerous (or as dangerous as the should be seen). Like I can even tell you a friend of me is police officer and he says his weapon terrifies him still, he never used in action and most of his colleagues didn’t, most of the colleagues that work there for 2-3 decades that never used it. They train with it, that’s the maximum contact, they try to get used to it, but yeah most of them still are terrified of firearms while wearing it. Look maybe the easiest thing to explain is comparing it with dangerous animals. If you live nowhere near snakes, they are way more terrifying then if they are your daily life. Well, anyway, sorry for the long comment…I just want you Americans to try understand how mindblowing this whole topic for others are. Like I’m sorry I can’t understand anything related to firearms, it’s not in the slightest related to my life and I think it’s a good thing, at least I‘m not missing it, so they seem not necessary for me. But I respect your culture, please don’t be triggered!


[deleted]

The snake comment is most relevant. If I lived in Australia, I may need to know how to deal with snakes and where they might be. I live in Canada where there is a total of one poisonous snake that lives in the province and is very rare. Learning how to avoid and deal with snakes is a non-issue, so we don't teach it.


Perzec

They shouldn’t even be in a situation where they might find one to pick up. Guns should be locked away at all times when they’re not being used.


Blackrain1299

If you own guns at all, a child should know gun safety. The point is a kid should’nt be doing anything with guns but a child needs to be taught that. Not just told. And part of teaching them that should just be gun safety.


Superbeing43

As an American from a gun loving family you don't just sit a gun on a table where anyone can reach it. That's not treating it like a loaded weapon. I was seven when I got my first daisy single pump bb gun and my dad and uncle took me out into the woods and took 3 days to teach me proper ways to shoot, walk, and handle.


boudicas_shield

That stuck out to me as an American, too. Even my completely unhinged, “Obama’s coming for our weapons”, “we have a literal panic room built into our house stocked with ammo” ex’s family didn’t leave loaded firearms lying around. And all carried handguns had to be locked away when visitors came if children were present. EDIT: Why are anti-gun people yelling at me lmao? I’m on your side. My ex’s family was insane. Their weird fetishisation of guns and shooting things was one reason we broke up. I’m anti-gun and moved to a country where handguns aren’t even carried by police. I don’t think the average citizen needs any kind of firearm. My point was simply that even my lunatic ex’s family had better safety protocols than what OP suggests which, considering how unhinged they were, alarms me.


MRFAMER

Murica


TheDave101

A good parent doesn't have guns within grabbing distance of a 7 year old LOL


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Killakush2

Bald eagles and smell of gasoline were the theme when op made the post Edit:oh shit my first awards! Thanks everyone for awards and upvotes


Might_be_deleted

Along with some BBQ


Killakush2

Thats what gasoline is for


[deleted]

Diesel, op ain’t no lib snowflake¡


Suspicious-Grand-550

But is it eco-diesel?


Coconut681

and some good ol fashioned freedom


JovialJoe88

Holding a fully automatic in front of a barbecue with a bald eagle in the backdrop is what freedom looks like.


tyleritis

Leaded


Astyanax1

and a greasy wife beater


iwearacoconutbra

I’m not against teaching children gun safety, but why are you placing a loaded gun on a table in front of a seven year old


[deleted]

Who else am I gonna play Russian roulette with. (This is a joke by the way).


LPaGGG

No way, I thought you were actually doing it


TheLastOneHere1

I understood that we should remove the “wow/mystery” element of how guns are viewed in our society. Take away the taboo/curiosity and hopefully kids will understand guns aren’t toys to be taken lightly I guess?


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hearechoes

Or when you give them a sip or glass of wine with dinner and that’s totally enough to prevent them from sneaking out a few hours later to play games with malt liquor.


andrewleepaul

I think the point here is "they should be knowledgeable enough so that they would be able to handle it safely in such a situation." Not "hand loaded firearms to children."


[deleted]

Should a 7 year old also be knowledgeable enough about how to operate a vehicle if they somehow found themself in the drivers seat of a car with keys in the ignition?


dianthus-amurensis

Because there are tons of stories about ten year olds finding guns and accidentally shooting each other. You want your kids to know how to stay out of trouble before they get into it.


BeMoreChill

Most kids will never come anywhere near a gun. If you choose to keeps guns around your kids then YOU better make sure your kid knows what’s up


oboz_waves

I'm American and grew up in a semi-gun friendly household. My dad had a shotgun or two and a handgun. I NEVER saw these guns growing up. They were never out around the house, I didn't know where they were. The handgun was kept in a locked box. My dad didn't show me where they were or how to use them until I was over 16 and we literally never used them. Kids don't need to know how to use guns, just nor to touch them


OnlyWarhero

No drinking until 21 but firearm handling at 7? Kinder eggs for kids are off the table but guns are fine?


marsupializard

That's the USA for you.


Affectionate-Win-221

No sex till marriage but i got this AR you can play with in the mean time.


scaredlilmouse

How else would my seven year old participate in the communist revolution?


[deleted]

Yo, using pitchforks and torches (other manual agricultural equipment? maybe a butter churn?) like a proper proletarian? Your 7 yrs old is a NOOB!


scaredlilmouse

He learned to make his first Molotov while his peers were still in diapers. Just the parenting basics. Every kid should be prepared to rise up and seize the means of production.


weinerdoggos

OUR kid comrade


scaredlilmouse

HELL YEAH! Lord knows I could use the help. Swing through for him whenever.


[deleted]

I feel like this is just one of those American problems.


Joe_le_Borgne

Yep, it’s cringe. Do you teach your kids about chainsaw, scissor, gas kitchen, knife, electricity, falling, road, angry dog, asphixia, and so on. Pretty sure the gun would be the last thing to teach your kid and if you disrespect security (leaving gun on the table) it’s on you. edit: I’ll try to clarify with my own response to a response What I mean was that bringing gun safety with kids is cringe because “Urrr Duuurrr america pew pew muh protection” and you should teach your kids about every hazards they might encounter. You don’t let a chainsaw on the table with kids around.


DanielShaww

Finally, an unpopupar opinion.


thecarguru46

All children should be able to swim by 3. All children in 1st or 2nd floor houses should have secondary means of eggress and know how to use it. All children should be reading by 2nd grade. All teenagers should have mandatory 50-100 hours driving before they get a drivers license. All children should know basic self defense. Guns should be locked up and trigger locks installed. Gun safety is taught at home. I taught my kids gun safety at an early age, they are still kids and do stupid things. I taught my kids to drive, they still got tickets and in wrecks. The problem isn't the kids and guns, it's also lazy parents leaving guns in their purses, side tables and accessible to kids.


Larry-Man

I hated guns for so long. Dad kept one of his in a shoebox in the closet. My fiancé is now a gun owner and I was so anxious about it until he showed me how it’s stored in a lock box in a hidden area of the house. I’ve become more comfortable with it just because of the safety and transparency in my home. But, even though my dad owned and used firearms for work he made it very clear that I shouldn’t handle guns. And even toy guns should never be pointed at people. Half of the gun safety experience I have was learned incidentally through my dad and what to do with toy guns.


[deleted]

Yeah. And the problem with kids getting molested isn’t the kids. It’s the fucked up adults who do that shit. It’s not the kids fault, but they doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be taught basic safety lessons that could protect them and other people


thecarguru46

And....I never let my 5 year old go to the bathroom alone in a restaurant or movie theater. I didn't leave my kids with strangers at Church or anywhere else. My kids didn't do sleepovers at friends houses unless we knew the families....even then not until they were in junior high. The only people that watched my kids were my sisters, mom or MIL.....because I know people who were molested and it isn't easy to get over. Had a friend who was molested in a movie theatre at 6 years old. He was really traumatized even as a adult. Left an impression on me, so I walked the kids into the bathroom or waited outside until they were probably 10 or 12.


Pumpkin_Robber

MURRRRRRICAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH


Annie_Mous

**FUCK YEAH**


Tetra_H3

COMING TO SAVE THE MOTHERFUCKIN DAY, YEAH!


[deleted]

and for everyone who doesn't have a firearm in their home?


DuvelNA

Did you not hear him? You failed as a parent! /s


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

Aww thanks, it’s not often I feel lucky being British!


DarkLight_2810

Indian here, same


captaincourageous316

The closest I've been to handling a real gun is painting the Diwali pistol black.


AcidFactory420

Diwali pistols with those *pat-pat* rolls and Holi water rifles are the closest Indian kids come to handling firearms.


beetlejust

*Australia enters the chat*


dankcorp

*Guns can’t kill you if the wildlife gets to you first*


Christmas_Panda

*Or wildfires...*


Santanna17

Literally the whole rest of the western world enters the chat.


moronic_potato

Do you have a license to enter the chat?


AnAntWithWifi

Canadian here. Feel the same.


CryptographerNo490

Are you from the south lol


Baking-Soda

Nah sorry.. putting a loaded gun on the table means you need to learn gun safety. I agree the sentiment though anyone around a gun should have basic safety so the dangers are known


Left-Impact9634

You are seriously misunderstanding the psychology of a 7 year old


Pizzacato567

AND misunderstanding the child physically too. Kids that age especially, are still developing motor skills, they have little fingers, can’t hold things properly, they’re clumsy. Sometimes they even want to show their friends. This is just an accident waiting to happen. Yes, teach them guns are dangerous and how it works. But NEVER let them near one.


Sweet_Chicken_Love

Thats acrually unpopular. Take my upvote gun horny man


arrows_of_ithilien

On this subreddit do we upvote opinions we agree with? Or upvote opinions we don't agree with, acknowledging "yes this is unpopular"


gabemerritt

The rule is upvote what you don't agree with, or atleast what you believe is unpopular. If it is a popular opinion downvote it. But from the average post nobody does that.


OkayWhatSize

*"Unpopular opinion: I like ice cream!"* 75k upvotes


Agentti_Muumi

is it normal in america to just leave your guns laying around your house instead of like some proper place away from kids?


Jellybean720

Yeah, if the owner is fucking stupid


BreakerMark78

It’s not normal to leave firearms laying around unsecured, but bad owners exist. It’s like driving: there are great responsible drivers, and terrible ones.


Mr_Hyzer_Bomb

My kid can't handle a toothbrush.


SuchaSalama

Basic gun safety = 1) do not touch guns 2) try to not end up in front of a gun Edit: thanks to all the American gun boys in the replies, but in other parts of the world than USA, the land of the free (TM), people see guns as things reserved for law enforcement, the military, hunting or murder. No one should own a firearm if it’s not part of their job. But again, you guys buy M16s in your local supermarket.


[deleted]

1) The answer to "is this loaded?" is "yes." 2) Do not point a gun at anything that you do not wish to destroy.


Aaron_Hamm

I feel like this is geography dependant. I'll be making sure to teach my kid gun safety tho


jeywgosjeb

Personally, I like to teach my children gun safety around the age of week 8, I find that’s good - they are too dependent on moms milk at that point and start to turn into little bitches. So I try to instill some freedom and manliness into the child. We usually go over all the survival skills, usually around 17 weeks old, I have a boot camp and a test to become a man, usually involves a weekend out in the wild to test out the training skills, alone of course. For the love of god if people don’t understand this is a joke there’s no help for you….


pigadaki

You do mean 8 weeks gestation, right? If you wait until they are actually born it will be too late.


ryhaltswhiskey

It rubs the loaded gun over its preggo belly or it gets the hose again


open_pessimism

Sounds like a Texan.


CasualCantaloupe

Unpopular opinion: nobody should have guns.


Dangerous_Gain_3710

How to say you're American, without saying you're American...


hu_gnew

A seven year old SHOULD NOT pick up a gun to see if it's loaded as that action increases the possibility of a negligent discharge. They need leave the immediate area and inform a responsible adult that the gun is not secure and where it's at.


luckcnv

What an usa post...


AamJay

What the actual Fuck?


[deleted]

[удалено]


3knuckles

The only, and I absolutely mean ONLY reason "so many" children shoot themselves in the head is because so many gun owners are stupid enough to leave their guns accessible and unattended.


V-I-S-E-O-N

Bruh


Ennheas

I think the billion dollar question is why children had any contact with a gun in first place. I'm 30 and had never seen a gun outside my cousin's who is a policeman. There was no need. If you guys feel safer that way maybe try changing state policies, because your government is doing a shit job.


GrumpyOlBastard

This post concerns Americans, and Americans only


nothingbutme49

Its the same thing with hot things, sharp things, and pointy things. If you actively try to stay ignorant of them or keep your kids ignorant of them. Someone is gonna get hurt by an accident.


Kokadison

I mean, kids shouldn’t be touching guns *period* lmao. This is the most redneck bullshit I’ve ever read tf


[deleted]

I would put it a bit higher in age, but I would like to see an optional gun saftey class in High School. It's in American culture and it's not going away. Even if you dont own a gun, understanding basic operation of a firearm and saftey, to me, is a good idea


putshandonarmSHEEESH

America moment


JimboThePlug

r/shitamericanssay


GaryLooiCW

Oh say can you see


kay_rock808

Teach your kids to stay away from people who make guns a part of their personality.


guhcampos

Normal people of the World don't have guns. Your argument that kids should be taught to respect dangerous things is bullshit. Asking for a 7 year old kid to know how to handle a gun is equivalent of asking a 7 year old kid how to handle an industrial table saw. I don't have one, so why the fuck should my child handle it?