Florida Police Say 7-Year-Old Girl Accidentally Shoots Sleeping Mom Twice

[GregRN]

Originally Posted by LiveBlues

Regardless of how it went off in the first place, who in the world would leave a loaded handgun on a nightstand with a 7 year old in the house? That is just plain stupidity.

Sorry, but I wholeheartedly disagree. That statement sounds like it came directly from the Brady Bunch. Guns are not the problem. Lack of parenting is the problem. Teach, train, and supervise.
My children never care to touch my guns. My children respect authority. I often ask my children to touch and handle my guns (supervised of course) and they spend a total of 30 seconds with it before handing it back with loss of interest. I do not wait for them to ask me to handle the weapon. I offer and actually push (only a little) to get them to touch my guns supervised. Then as my guns are lying on a table, my sons walk right past them as if they are nothing more than a book on that table. But, if it makes any one feel better, just know that neither of my sons is strong enough to pull the triggers on my carry weapons. That was tested as late as yesterday.
Quit blaming the guns. Blame the parents. Padded playgrounds, child proof packages, cabinet locks, and etc have taken the place of parenting, and can't totally replace a mom and a dad.

[Glock Fan]

Originally Posted by GregRN

Sorry, but I wholeheartedly disagree. That statement sounds like it came directly from the Brady Bunch. Guns are not the problem. Lack of parenting is the problem. Teach, train, and supervise.
My children never care to touch my guns. My children respect authority. I often ask my children to touch and handle my guns (supervised of course) and they spend a total of 30 seconds with it before handing it back with loss of interest. I do not wait for them to ask me to handle the weapon. I offer and actually push (only a little) to get them to touch my guns supervised. Then as my guns are lying on a table, my sons walk right past them as if they are nothing more than a book on that table. But, if it makes any one feel better, just know that neither of my sons is strong enough to pull the triggers on my carry weapons. That was tested as late as yesterday.
Quit blaming the guns. Blame the parents. Padded playgrounds, child proof packages, cabinet locks, and etc have taken the place of parenting, and can't totally replace a mom and a dad.

Just a word of caution regarding your children not being "strong enough" to pull the triggers. Keep in mind that the day they do find the "strength" or possibly technique required to pull the trigger, it WILL be a very bad day. I strongly recommend keeping the firearm secured and inaccessable to your children. As an NRA instructor, I'm familiar with this concept as it is taught in NRA classes.

I agree with allowing children to handle firearms under close supervision. I have a 4 year old that enjoys checking out "daddy's guns". He will do so only under my supervision and he needs to ask nicely

I sincerely hope that you will reconsider your stance on keeping your firearms secure for the sake of your children.



gf

[FN1910]

The jails are full of people that were taught better by their parents and if you sak the parents they would never have done such a crime and are totally innocent. The 4 year old that enjoys checking out Daddy's gun but would never do it unless he has permission and the ones that don't have enough strenght to pull the trigger are being taught well. However I have seen and known children, including myself probably, that no matter how well they are taught can have a moment or lapse in judgement and that is all it takes.

Please do not lull yourself into complacency because your 7 year-old always asks you if he can touch your gun before he does it. When you aren't around for him to ask he may very well assume that it is allright for him to do it.

I mean how many times do you hear that "My son could not have killed that cop because I taught him better."?

[Ektarr]

Returning to the thread, I can see where this scenario can occur. If the firearm was an automatic, a larger caliber, the involuntary shock reflex of responding to the first shot could cause the child's muscles to flinch, pulling the (now reloaded) trigger again.

[LiveBlues]

Originally Posted by GregRN

Sorry, but I wholeheartedly disagree. That statement sounds like it came directly from the Brady Bunch. Guns are not the problem. Lack of parenting is the problem. Teach, train, and supervise.
My children never care to touch my guns. My children respect authority. I often ask my children to touch and handle my guns (supervised of course) and they spend a total of 30 seconds with it before handing it back with loss of interest. I do not wait for them to ask me to handle the weapon. I offer and actually push (only a little) to get them to touch my guns supervised. Then as my guns are lying on a table, my sons walk right past them as if they are nothing more than a book on that table. But, if it makes any one feel better, just know that neither of my sons is strong enough to pull the triggers on my carry weapons. That was tested as late as yesterday.
Quit blaming the guns. Blame the parents. Padded playgrounds, child proof packages, cabinet locks, and etc have taken the place of parenting, and can't totally replace a mom and a dad.

Why take a chance?

I'm not blaming guns at all. I'm blaming poor decisions.

[FN1910]

Originally Posted by Ektarr

Returning to the thread, I can see where this scenario can occur. If the firearm was an automatic, a larger caliber, the involuntary shock reflex of responding to the first shot could cause the child's muscles to flinch, pulling the (now reloaded) trigger again.

Every now and then the impossible happens. I don't know how it happened but your theory is a good as any I have read so far.

[toreskha]

Originally Posted by GregRN

Then as my guns are lying on a table, my sons walk right past them as if they are nothing more than a book on that table. But, if it makes any one feel better, just know that neither of my sons is strong enough to pull the triggers on my carry weapons.

Children grow and change quickly, and are not typically consistent in either their interests or their physical strength. A kid who yesterday couldn't open a door may tomorrow decide to flip the deadbolt open, turn the knob and run out into the street. There's incidents all the time where people who didn't think their kid was capable of something end up having them open a gate and drown in a pool, get in the car and knock it out of gear on a hill, or accidentally shoot themselves. Never underestimate the ability of a child or the power of simple leverage.

I don't typically lock my weapons (of all kinds) up per se, but there's never any kids here, either. I do however keep them in a secure location. If someone walked in my front door, they wouldn't see any weapons lying around. This is a basic tactical measure; if someone breaks in, I'm not giving them anything additional to attack me with. I would feel pretty stupid if someone came at me with a sledgehammer because it was lying next to the front door.