A Utah teenager died after apparently shooting himself with a revolver loaded with blanks.
Tucker Thayer, 16, was a sophomore at Deseret Hills High School when he died. Police said he took the gun out of a locked cabinet hours before the play in November and it discharged.
This is a common theme perpetuated by "Authorized Journalists." By using phrases such as "it discharged" or "the gun went off" or "the gun discharged in his hand," human operator responsibility is ignored. Negligence is then presented as an "accident."
It may be comforting to some to blame the gun, but denying reality keeps solutions from being explored. Barring the discovery of a defect, the boy must have had his finger on the trigger. He must have pulled it.
The "solution," as presented by those who wish guns to disappear, is to teach children to avoid them. They must be locked up in safes, separated from ammunition, we are told, so that children cannot access them. And parents must be asked if there are any guns in the home before play dates are allowed.
The unintended consequence of the avoidance approach is it ensures ignorance, so if a child does encounter a gun, they will be clueless as to what to do next. And like it or not, all the theoretical admonitions in the world are no substitute for knowledge and experience.
That means giving your children development-appropriate gun training. Notice I did not say "age." It varies, and it's up to the parent to be in tune enough with their child to know when they're ready to give things a try.
This means, at some point, you need to teach your child how to handle a gun. You need to teach them safety rules. You need to teach them how to identify the parts and explain how they work. You need to teach your children how to fire them, to see what they're capable of. And if you're incapable of doing any of these things, you're being negligent on a basic parental responsibility and need to get yourself trained without delay.
This doesn't mean you need to become a gun owner or a shooting enthusiast (although chances are you'll have some perceptions changed). It is simply a realistic observation that we are better prepared to deal with things--all things--if we have become educated about them. Ask yourself what kind of rational person would disagree with that, and recommend the best and safest course of action is ensuring perpetual ignorance.
Educating yourself and your children is the best way to minimize the chances of suffering a similar unendurable tragedy.
Col. Jeff Cooper's four rules of gun safety:
1. "All guns are always loaded".
2. Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target.
4. Always be sure of your target.
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Nightmare Update
From Gun Owners of Nevada:
ATTENTION NEEDED -- URGENT
Our current alert has been updated. If you have not contacted all Senators, it is very important to do so now. And if you have, please go here to get the update.
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Brady Expansion
From Oregon Firearms Federation:
House Bill 2853 is now scheduled for a hearing in the House Rules Committee.The hearing is scheduled for May 13th at 3PM.
This bill, which we have warned you about before, was moved to the Rules Committee to allow it to stay alive after deadlines in other committees would have killed it.
The bill would vastly expand the failed Brady Law and send thousands of "mental health" records to the radically anti-gun Obama administration.
Check out other Gun Rights Examiners:
- Atlanta: Restaurant with anti-gun policy saved by a gun
- Austin: Swine flu and gun control
- Boston: The Gang of 7 and FACT verses FICTION - Part I
- Charlotte: Ashton Lundeby 'Patriot' Detention: Hoax or setup?
- Cleveland: High rate of Concealed Handgun License issuance in Ohio continues
- DC: NATO doctrine in effect: open carry rights in Wisconsin under attack!
- Denver: Why liberals should get a gun permit
- Los Angeles: Gun Control: Again the GOP asks what to do, Part II.
- Milwaukee: Milwaukee Police Chief Flynn bullies gun owners
- Minneapolis: Are gun owners facing a ‘perfect storm’?
- Seattle: Polls show pundits, politicians and press ‘out of touch’ about gun rights
- St. Louis: Another push to ban 'assault weapons'--what will 'pro-gun' Kirsten Gillibrand do?
- Wisconsin: Armed biker 1 four teen thugs 0
Comments
Another excellent piece, David. Another excellent observation for non-gun-owners.
I agree that parents should teach their children about the power and capabilities of guns. I have a little problem with this paragraph:
"This means, at some point, you need to teach your child how to handle a gun. You need to teach them safety rules. You need to teach them how to identify the parts and explain how they work. You need to teach your children how to fire them, to see what they're capable of. And if you're incapable of doing any of these things, you're being negligent on a basic parental responsibility and need to get yourself trained without delay."
So, now instead of the government telling me what to do as a parent, you are telling me what to do as a parent. And I'm a bad or negligent parent unless I believe how you do. If the government telling me how to raise kids is bad, why is it any better that you tell me?
I think I can make my own decisions about what I teach my kids about guns, and how I do it, without you telling me that I'd be a negligent parent unless I do it your way.
@Jeremy
I see that you think it's a good idea, but just don't want to be told that you should do it. Understandable, I don't like to be told what to do either. But, a lot of people never even think of this as a solution to a problem. They just say "Ban Guns!!!" or whatever else.
Also, I'd say that if someone had guns in their home and their child/children DID die from an "accidental" self inflicted gunshot..... if they hadn't taught their children how to safely handle those guns, they WOULD have been negligent in that and maybe even complicit.
I'd say, no matter who gives you the idea, the .gov (although they'd NEVER think of this simple a solution)or David or your neighbor, it's a good idea nonetheless.
Jeremy, would you be telling the writer he was a negligent gun nut if he DIDN'T want parents with firearms in the home to train their kids in their safe and responsible use?
Jeremy, I'm not telling you what to do. I have no power over you. The government does.
If you don't teach your children about guns in a society where they are likely to encounter them I won't force you. But you agree parents should teach their kids about "powers and capabilities," but then you resent me saying in order to teach them you need to be capable and educated yourself--that makes no sense. How could you be qualified to teach them unless you are?
And if you know a more comprehensive and effective way to teach about guns that doesn't involve... uh... hands-on education and training, I'm all ears.
Well, raustin, I do hope that always works out for you. Here's the unarmed response to a home invasion or rape: STOP, or I'll say STOP again!!
I had to shoot a man once to save my life. If I had not been armed at THAT MOMENT - and prepared to use it, I would be long dead.
As for telling your children not to handle guns... in the absence of real education about them, and learned respect for them, the chances are sadly high that they would harm themselves or others simply out of ignorance when - not if - they ever do come across one.
It may seem simple and obvious to you that hiding from the truth is the answer. But the unintended consequences of that simplistic and irrational solution may well be your death, or that of your children. What a real shame.
Or do you have some sort of magic immunity to criminals and ignorance?
David, you can teach kids about the power and capability of things without fully training them in their use. I believe I can teach my children about guns the way I teach them about Poisons. Poison has it's uses, but my children need to avoid it. I will teach how to identify it, and if they see it, they should get away and do not touch it, or they could die. Then it is up to me to secure the poison, so they don't have access to it. Since they can still stumble on it other places, I'll make sure where they go has it secured, but they'll know not to touch in case they find some that is not. It does not require me to show them hands-on how it works or demonstrate it's power and lethality.
Since I don't have guns in the house, the odds they'll encounter a gun are less than if I did have them. But I will still teach them to never touch a gun, and leave any place where they see a gun. When they are older, if they want to shoot, then we can.
For those that do have guns in the house, I would recommend what you are saying, but your article was not solely aimed at them. And if someone had guns and didn't either secure them or teach their children about them, or both, they would be negligent. Though, I wouldn't call them a gun nut (Happy Indep), nor would I tell them that if they didn't train or teach them the way I described, they were wrong. I'd think each gun-owning parent can make their own choices about what they feel is appropriate type of training or education.
I realize that you have no power over me, but that paragraph displayed the same arrogance that the government does. If you don't like being told what makes a good parent by them, why would I like it from you? Your way is not the only way.
If you don't want me telling you that you must have trigger locks, gun safes, guns not loaded, etc. then don't tell me I must teach my kids to shoot. I realize the govt. legislating trigger locks is different than me telling you that you must have them, but are you going to be happy if I state that if you don't have them, you are a negligent parent? No, because what you feel is the responsible way, and what I feel is, may differ, but can both be correct.
Jeremy, one cannot be adequately trained in gun safety without knowing how to safely use a gun. You're free to argue otherwise, and I'm free to have and express an opinion about that.
Jeremy
I see your point, but the difference between an individual and the government telling you what is appropriate is much greater than you let on. I will often ignore any individual that tells me how to raise my children. The government on the other hand, might risk the lives of my family in a predawn military raid if I don't raise my children exactly as they see fit.
Dave's advice is wise. I believe that I am doing a good job raising my children, and I trust them more than most other parents trust their children. That being said, I know that there might be a situation where my children handle a firearm without adult supervision. We all know that kids never give in to peer pressure, right? I am confident that my children will be able to safely handle a firearm in almost any situation. That comes from hands on instruction about how to properly handle a firearm, something that is difficult to do with pictures. How will your children handle a firearm when handed one at a friend’s home?
Simple choice. You can protect your child from the 250-300 million guns in the US by preventing contact from each and every one of them. Or you can protect your child by providing the training that makes them safe no matter which of them they might encounter. Well duh!
As for only teaching them to fear the power of guns take that same approach to fire for example. What you wind up with is the potential for a child found frozen to death next to a pile of firewood and a box of matches.
This is further evidence of the deep denial of the hoplophobe that there are any good or positive aspects to gun use. Gathering food, defense of person and family, those do not exist in the mind of the gun banner. They deny their very existence in the face of incontrovertible truth. And just how sick is that? Who really has the twisted unrealistic world view in this equation?
When my son was young he had a friend who liked to listen to RAP music. I preferred that my son not be subjected to such trash. One day a good friend wanted to come over to play. His mother called me to ask if I had any firearms in the house. I said yes and that they were secure for the kids while they were at the house.
I asked her if she allowed her son to listen to rap music while my son was at her house. She asked why I wanted to know. I said I do not like my son listening to that and I would like if he didn't at her house. I told her flat out that I thought that music was a worse influence than firearms were. She laughed and blew it off. At 16 years old her son entered drug rehab for smoking crack. Surely influenced by the music he listened to.
My son is a productive law abiding citizen and is looking to buy his first handgun next year when he turns 21.
Always be sure of your target AND BEYOND!!! Bullets don't stop because they've gotten to YOUR point of interest. They continue, often through their intended target, into whatever lies behind that target.
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My 11 yr old grandson met up with his much older cousin this past weekend in Manassas, VA. He was introduced to a semi-auto sport utility rifle and .45 cal 1911. He was taught proper handling and firearm safety and fired both weapons with accuracy not normally known for someone his age. His initial instruction with firearms was with his BB gun in his backyard and later at a local range with a .22 Marlin. He is learning lessons he will remember all his life, whether he chooses to own guns as an adult or not.
My humble .02.
I started writing a response to this but it got rather long so I turned it into a blog posting. Seems the comment system here won't allow URL's tho, so I left off the "http" portion. You'll have to manually copy/paste the address into your web browser to read this.
hsoiblog.wordpress.com/2009/05/09/love-your-children-teach-them/
Before first grade, I was exploring my parents bedroom, the closit to be exact. I found a curious canvis case. In that case there were three hard objects. It was a puzzle. Being an inquisitive and inteligint little one, I put it together. I had assembled my fathers Fox Sterlingworth 12 gage shot gun. I promply took it to my parents to show them what I had done. That was my first expiance with firearms.
And a great place to learn how to teach children to be safe around guns is www.corneredcat.com.
One of the many things the media is guilty of is perpetuating the myth that blanks are "safe". You often hear it in the form of, "Don't worry. They're just blanks." At close range, a blank is just as dangerous as lead loaded ammunition. There are a lot of injured and dead people who have learned that the hard way.
Of course, if he was observing Cooper's Rules, it wouldn't have mattered what was in the gun.
Rule for should read: Be sure of your target, and BEYOND.
Had the FBI sniper remembered that, Weaver's wife and child might still be alive.
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