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Gun Ownership: Teach Your Kids the Responsibility

January 15th, 2009 Leave a comment Go to comments

Today my family had an experience that should wake up other parents, as it did me.

As she does every day, my wife picked our kids up from their schools. Just after picking up my son, a 13-year-old who naturally thinks he’s invincible, they drove past an apartment complex where a rather nasty fight had erupted. My son started yelling at my wife to stop the car. He wanted to get out and stop the fight and, at one point, yelled at his mom that this was why she needed to carry a gun (she doesn’t…yet). He was rather irate when she did the right thing (in this situation), pulling the car into a safe place before calling 911 but not intervening directly. Now those of you who have been exercising your 2nd Amendment right for any length of time know the foolishness of my son’s reaction, but in his naive, “I’m Clint Eastwood” (insert whoever’s current in movies…Vin Diesel maybe?) mentality, my son didn’t. When I arrived home my wife apprised me of the situation so, after supper, I sat the kids down and had “the talk.” No, not that talk. The one I should have had with them earlier. We discussed the huge responsibility it is to carry with you the power of life and death, and how easy it can be to make the wrong decision. When he saw the fight, already in progress, did he know who started it? Who was in the right? If the combatants were armed? And so on. Anyone who has been through a basic CCW course knows the scenarios. My son, of course, didn’t. After going through a number of them with the kids, he became rather thoughtful and wanted to chew it over for a bit. I obviously have more work to do with the kids. We need to cover how they should react in a dangerous situation (e.g., don’t yell, “Dad, shoot him!”). My kids have been to the range with me often, so they have the skills, but do they have the knowledge and judgment? Nope. And that’s my responsibility. So parents, don’t put it off or think your kids will just pick it up from you automatically. You must take the time to talk with your kids about what it means to be a responsible armed citizen.

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