To my fellow parents and gun owners. I am a strong advocate of gun safety, especially when you have children. I have three children ages 14, 5 and 6. I recently watched a special (i think it was 60 minutes or 20/20 not sure which) where they did an experiment with a group of children with various toys and toy guns and they had a Glock in the mix (obviously unloaded). They watched how the kids reacted with the different toys and found that almost every kid (even the ones that come from homes with gun owners) picked it up pointed it at another kid and pulled the trigger.
I found this very alarming and disturbing. As a parent we all think our kids would never do that. Based on the fact that even the children that live in the household with responsible gun owners had the same reaction, I started having a conversation with my youngest children every month about what to do if they find a real gun. They always say the right thing: "get a grown up". I decided to test them tonight. I hid my wife's UNLOADED .38 revolver on my sons bed under some toys (the green hulk fist) to see how they would respond.
Tonight, I am a proud father. Both kids passed the test. Delilah picked up the gun not realizing what it was at first then put it down then they went to get me. (see the video below)
Do any of you have the same conversations with your children?
