Hey, storing a deadly weapon on top of the refrigerator always works, just like putting candy and the cookie jar up there.
Itâs not the storage location, itâs not teaching the kid right. Iâve had guns more accessible than that with no incident because my kids had all fired guns already and knew they blew holes in things.
At 6 years old?
He lives in the Midwest. Itâs not uncommon.
Yes at six. I think my youngest was five.
I think this is the right move (yeah, I know you werenât looking for validation, and obviously you agree with me anyway).
In a nation where guns exist, and will continue to exist for several more generations, locking them away from kids entirely is, IMHO, the wrong move. Itâs basically what we do with alcohol and we all know how well prohibition works.
Instead, expose the kids to guns at an appropriate age so that they learn about them and respect what theyâre capable of. Donât make them a mysterious, forbidden fruit. Teach them proper handling (or not handling), let them get firsthand knowledge of how things work and what happens when you use them.
I think the last time I touched a firearm was about 22 years ago, at Boy Scout camp. And it was just a little .22 rifle. Before that, Iâd gotten to take a few shots at clay pigeons w/ a shotgun, also something with Boy Scouts. Neither was much. But it was enough for me to learn how to properly handle the firearms, take care of them, and what really happens when you pull the trigger.
I have similar thoughts about alcohol. I believe that it should be legal for underage kids to have a small amount of alcohol, under their parentsâ supervision. Maybe it would cut down on binge drinking. Maybe it would teach kids about the effects of alcohol on them in a controlled environment, so that they make better decisions about it when they get out on their own. Or maybe I just want to turn my kid into a beer snob so that when he gets to college, he doesnât get hammered because he refuses to drink Natty Ice on general principle.
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College? Last time I drank Natty Ice was in high school.
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Agreed, Dak⌠the same principle that we apply to any potentially unsafe object:
Do you teach a child a knife is sharp and to be used carefully? Or that a stove is hot? How about a campfire or a fireplace fire? We teach them not to play with matches, and lighters, and candles.
When theyâre older⌠power tools? Lawn mowers?
Can you imagine trying to defend yourself to the court of public opinion if you said âI think knives are too dangerous, so I just didnât teach Johnnie about them. He wasnât supposed to find them!â
Did Natty Ice even exist that long ago?
It was Booneâs Farm and Mad Dog 20/20 for me as an underage drinker; not that I would recommend that my own kids follow my path.
I also believe I was 8 when I fired my fatherâs 357 magnum for the first time. I remember the recoil knocked me on my ass.
Might have been Natty Light.
I never saw Natty Light or Natty Ice until at least the 90s.
The beer store I worked at in Ann Arbor in the 80s sold a lot of Altes and something-heimer, by the case.
But I once sold a 6-pack of Dortmunster to a snotty rich kid⌠He never came back, but he might have died of horror when he popped the top off.
Natural Light - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wikipedia
Natural Light is a reduced-calorie light pilsner brewed by Anheuser-Busch since its introduction on July 31, 1977. Its ingredients are listed as water, barley malt, âŚ
We stocked nearly every domestic brand of beer possible, and quite a few imported brands, and I am pretty sure we didnât stock that.
Wikipedia says this.
Natural Ice is an economy brand 5.9% ABV ice beer, introduced in 1995.
I graduated in 1992. So it was Natty Light I was drinking, not Natty Ice. By the time that stuff came out I was already of legal drinking age and beginning to discover there was more to beer than the macro-brewed horse piss that was so popular back then.
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/10/iowa-man-shoots-and-kills-himself-after-firing-on-local-law-firm/
Okay, shooting at lawyers I can understand (I mean, who would miss them?). But a prosthesis company?
Their rates were probably an arm and a leg.
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groooooooan Okay, that was kind of funny. 
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No, no it wasnât.
I donât live in a society with guns, and I think this is the only sane approach. Then again, in the UK weâre (still, until somebody realises and goes on a campaign about it) able to drink alcohol at home, under adult supervision, from age 5. My own parents introduced me to alcohol in my early teens, before there was likely to be peer pressure to go drinking. I still remember splitting a demijohn of beer with my brother, and how I felt the next day. Unlike almost all my peers, alcohol wasnât a draw for me in âsocialâ settings as a result.
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