Better alternative: stick fingers in ears, scream lalalalala
Via Sebastian, some hoplophobic mom is all spooked because her ex wants to teach her son to shoot. Now, here’s the deal: I don’t advocate getting everyone out to shoot. And I don’t advocate forcing people to. And I don’t advocate dragging hysterical pant-shitters to the range. But I do advocate education. Now, the kid doesn’t want to shoot (at least, that’s what mom tells us – I don’t know of many young boys that don’t want to watch stuff go boom!) and that is fine. But acting like firearms are some mythical beastie that should be avoided like uranium is not healthy. If nothing else, such an exercise would teach the kid how to safely secure a weapon. And what to do if he comes into contact with one.
That said, I have some close friends who will not have a gun in the house. Well, more to the point, the woman of the family is the hysterical kind about guns, which means the rest are. But even they have asked that I take their children shooting so that they learn gun safety as they know (this being rural Tennessee) that eventually the kids will probably be in close proximity to a weapon. Teach them what to do because ignorance kills. More importantly, the exercise would likely teach him not to be hysterical about guns, which is probably the mom’s real fear.
Update: Pissed Off Housewife has more. So does Ahab.
June 12th, 2007 at 9:06 am
[…]I’m not going to address the flawed logic behind the “no guns” thing; despite the fact that I disagree with the mother’s position on guns, it’s her prerogative to raise her child as she pleases. I actually wanted to focus on part of this story that was sort of missed, and it’s also the part I find the most disturbing.[…]
June 12th, 2007 at 9:09 am
Isn’t this aberrant pyschological phenomenon called hoplophobia? Actually it is probably almost pervasive enough to be considered “normal” and good by many.
June 12th, 2007 at 9:32 am
That is a Kos kids website. What do you expect..?
June 12th, 2007 at 9:52 am
I agree… Regardless of whether or not you like guns… regardless of whether or not you are afraid of guns… everyone should know the basics of gun safety. Not just “stay away from guns”, because that doesn’t always work. At the very least you need to have a working knowledge of the 4 rules, and a general understanding of how to safely unload and disable the most common types of weapons. In fact, I think it would be great to offer a basic training course to this effect. (Something like “Gun Safety for Non Gun Owners”.) It might even alleviate some of the unfounded fears people have about guns.
June 12th, 2007 at 11:17 am
My mother never let me play with guns either, but I think she was in a better reality space. I was taught at a young age that they are dangerous, and I was never to play with one if I encountered one at a friend’s house, but my mother had no issues with use of firearms for sporting purposes, she just didn’t want one in the house, and my father has no interest in firearms outside of his interest in history, so that was never an issue.
She had little issue with my handling a gun for target shooting once I was old enough, and if she had lived long enough for when I first purchased my own (which was before I moved out), I think I could have convinced her to let me have it in the house.
June 12th, 2007 at 11:24 am
Thanks for the linkie.
That post was pretty intense… guns aside it’s pretty easy to see why she’s a single mom.
How does one screech via blog? That was so… screechy..
June 13th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
But I do advocate education. Now, the kid doesn’t want to shoot (at least, that’s what mom tells us – I don’t know of many young boys that don’t want to watch stuff go boom!)
Kids are very susceptible to suggestion…especially from the parents whom they trust completely and believe know everything and are without flaw.
I’m sure Mom has brainwashed the poor child into numbed terror any time he even thinks about guns.
June 15th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
Well, looks like one more mama’s boy being setup for a miserable life.