Firearms and ChildCare: To Disclose or Not

[Unregistered]

You said "In my opinion, if it isn't a factor that would affect the child in any way, then it is none of the parents business."

How would having firearms in the house NOT affect the child? You canNOT guarantee that a child might get into the area where firearms are. You can take all the safety measures in the world and yet accidents still happen.

You can have a policy of a locked safe, an area where access is not permitted and follow all the rules and regulations and yet we are still human and canNOT guarantee that something couldn't happen.

The only sure fire 100% way to guarantee that something couldn't happen is to simply NOT have firearms in the home.

I HIGHLY doubt that even if you had a permit to carry, that it would be advisable or allowed to carry one if you are simply going for a walk with the dck's. I do know that when taking the course to be permitted for carrying a concealed weapon ,there are rules to follow and not following them has consequences such as revocation of the permit.

I would think that whether your state requires you to be licensed or not (as far as child care goes), there would still be some sort of rules that would apply to this.

I respectfully disagree. There are ways to have children and firearms in the same home. There are ways to store ammunition in separate containers than the firearm. There are biometric safes that are only programmed to allow 1 or 2 pre-programmed people to open the safe. There are trigger locks. Using a combination of the above, and watching the children will prevent 100% accidents.

Accidents are a result of people not being educated about firearms, being careless or lazy, or handling them when under the influence. It is much more dangerous to have a knife set out on your kitchen counter than to have a locked gun in a locked biometric safe in a locked room with ammunition sotred in a locked case in a separate locked room from the gun.

I do not have a CCW but I have taken the course and there are not any laws preventing you from carrying it with your own children. I do not know, but do believe that there are probably laws about childcare and having guns around, probably whether you are licensed or not, but I am not 100% sure.

[Unregistered]

In my area, we are required to disclose whether or not we own a gun and whether or not it is kept on the daycare premesis even if it is kept in rooms/outside where the daycare children do not have access to.

However, what makes me concerned is me sitting there on an interview with what is actually complete strangers and having to tell them, "No, I do not have a gun in my home." I feel like I might as well continue and say, "so, yes, you can come back later tonight and rob me blind and you now know that I have no real means of protecting myself and family."

I fully understand that the parents of the daycare children should have the right to know what potentially dangerous items are in the home that they are leaving their child in, however, it also makes us have to tell complete strangers that we don't have a weapon and therefore are an easy target for them if they are the crazy ones!

This is a very good point! There are predators out there in the world that WILL take advantage of your kindness. That is one of my biggest fears, since I do a lot of advertising on craigs list. I am basically inviting strangers to my nice large home. They see my husband's expensive car in the driveway and the nice oil paintings on the walls. They see that I am home alone all day, vulnerable, with a bunch of little kiddos who I have to protect as well. If someone wanted to set up a fake interview- I could be inviting a rapist and murderer to my home, and letting them know I am defenseless.

[Blackcat31]

I respectfully disagree. There are ways to have children and firearms in the same home. There are ways to store ammunition in separate containers than the firearm. There are biometric safes that are only programmed to allow 1 or 2 pre-programmed people to open the safe. There are trigger locks. Using a combination of the above, and watching the children will prevent 100% accidents.

Accidents are a result of people not being educated about firearms, being careless or lazy, or handling them when under the influence. It is much more dangerous to have a knife set out on your kitchen counter than to have a locked gun in a locked biometric safe in a locked room with ammunition sotred in a locked case in a separate locked room from the gun.

I do not have a CCW but I have taken the course and there are not any laws preventing you from carrying it with your own children. I do not know, but do believe that there are probably laws about childcare and having guns around, probably whether you are licensed or not, but I am not 100% sure.

You can respectfully disagree and that is A-ok, however, I stand my ground on the fact that regardless of what safety measures you do or do not take, you can NOT guarantee that an accident can or won't happen. Human beings are NOT perfect. You simply can NOT guarantee that.

As far as the laws about CCW and your own children, you said while walking with daycare children and there ARE rules about that. What you do with your own children on your own time is irrelavant to this topic, whic is child care, child care children and the parents right to know

[Unregistered]

This is copied directly from your state's guidelines:

No guns or other lethal weapons will be allowed in the child care setting. Parents required to carry firearms as a function of their job will lock firearms in their vehicle before entering the child care setting.

In a home facility, all guns will be unloaded. Ammunition and guns will be stored separate from one another, each under lock and key, in an area inaccessible to children. Parents will be informed if guns or ammunition are kept onsite.

There is your answer on whether or not you must provide parents with this info. I am reading it that even if they don't ask, you are still required to tell. This applies to ALL childcare homes both licensed, LNL, registered and unregistered child care homes.

Good info to know. Like I said, I don't keep anything on site but I am gad to have that information! Thanks!

[MrsB]

My husband does have one of those professions.

Licensing doesnt require me to disclose to parents but it does require me to disclose to licensing and they inspect our gun safe when they come for inspections.

I do disclose to my prospective daycare parents that we may have a firearm on premisis but it is always in a locked gun safe upstairs in the office off of our bedroom. (Upstairs is approved for daycare but only a handful of time in the last 5 years have I ever taken dcks up there and it was never into my room or the office) I always give them the option of checking out the safe. Typically it is only there outside of his work hours, since he has it with him at work. I have never had a family say anything about it. I suppose one of the families that came for an interview and did not go with me that could have been the reason, one will never know. On the other hand, I have had alot of parents comment how they like the idea that my husband is in law enforcement and that most of community knows that.

I think if you are open about it and tell everyone the precautions and safety measures you have put in place, it isnt such a taboo subject. Then it is up to them to decide if they trust you or not to follow your safety precautions. If they dont I dont want their child here. KWIM?

[nannyde]

However, what makes me concerned is me sitting there on an interview with what is actually complete strangers and having to tell them, "No, I do not have a gun in my home." I feel like I might as well continue and say, "so, yes, you can come back later tonight and rob me blind and you now know that I have no real means of protecting myself and family."

That's a really good point. Never assume because someone is a parent that they are safe. I think you would be better off to just recite whatever your state law is about firearms then to answer the question directly. I don't know what my state requires. I'll have to look that up.

I don't have guns and am scared to death of them so it's never been an issue with me. I'm very pro gun though. I come from hunters and generational teaching about safety.

[Blackcat31]

I think if you are open about it and tell everyone the precautions and safety measures you have put in place, it isnt such a taboo subject. Then it is up to them to decide if they trust you or not to follow your safety precautions. If they dont I dont want their child here. KWIM?

Again, communication is the key!!

[Live and Learn]

You absolutely must disclose to the parents if the guns are ever on your premises. Even if the guns are locked up. The parents have the right to know.

In our area we recently had a young child find his deputy dad's gun. The gun was supposed to be kept in a safe. The child accidentally killed himself. Accidents happen.

Personally, I hate guns. When my kids were young I would ask the parents of their friends if they kept guns in the house. :confused:One idiotic family told me that they kept unlocked loaded guns on the top shelf of their closet but ddn't think their children knew or could reach the guns. :confused: My child was never allowed at their house. My instincts proved correct. Weird family.

[Blackcat31]

That's a really good point. Never assume because someone is a parent that they are safe. I think you would be better off to just recite whatever your state law is about firearms then to answer the question directly. I don't know what my state requires. I'll have to look that up. I don't have guns and am scared to death of them so it's never been an issue with me. I'm very pro gun though. I come from hunters and generational teaching about safety.

http://www.dhs.state.ia.us/policyanalysis/PolicyManualPages/Manual_Documents/Master/comm143.pdf

Page 52.

FWIW~ this is a subject I feel VERY strongly about. I have zero issues with guns. I just think that laws are in place to protect people NOT harm them or cause them grief.

Even if no laws on this subject existed, I would think that anyone providing child care would feel strongly about doing what ever is necessary to do what is in the best as far as safety and the well-being of the children and families we serve.

Even if that means changing our home-life. Sometimes we have to give a little for the best interest of the bigger picture.

[Unregistered]

Part of our licensing requirements are to disclose whether or not we have firearms in the home and where we are to keep them if we do. Failure to follow these licensing rules are NOT an option.

As far as it being any one's business, I believe that if we are opening our homes to run a business then it IS their business. If I were a parent and asked this question and later found out you lied because you felt it was none of my business, I would be LIVID! If you are caring for my child, it IS my business.

If I asked and you told me the truth, I would want to see where the firearms are and what you do to keep the children from accessing them. I would want to know when, who and how often you open the locked safe during operating hours.

....even if your DH has a profession that requires fire arm use/carrying, there are rules that he would have to follow so that is kind of a mute point there as he could/would lose his job if he didn't follow those laws/rules

what state are you in?

[AmyLeigh]

I've never had a parent ask, but I wouldn't be the slightest bit offended if they did.

If a parent asked, I would be very happy to show them the locked gun safe that's in the garage, hidden from view.

This. Exactly.

[nannyde]

http://www.dhs.state.ia.us/policyana...er/comm143.pdf
Page 52.

FWIW~ this is a subject I feel VERY strongly about. I have zero issues with guns. I just think that laws are in place to protect people NOT harm them or cause them grief.

Even if no laws on this subject existed, I would think that anyone providing child care would feel strongly about doing what ever is necessary to do what is in the best as far as safety and the well-being of the children and families we serve.

Even if that means changing our home-life. Sometimes we have to give a little for the best interest of the bigger picture.

So you can have them in Iowa as long as they are locked away. Well that's interesting.

It gets touchy when you start messing with the right to have weapons. I haven't ever really thought it thru because I would never own a weapon. I'm really afraid of guns. I would like to learn how to shoot them though with a teacher who knew what they were doing and in a safe place. I would love to hunt if I had the physical ability and the eyesight. That's never going to happen though.

[Unregistered]

I do not have guns in my home and have never been asked in an interview. I did have one mom suggest that I carry a gun when I took the kids to the playground in case someone tried to kidnap one of the kids.
To the OP, even if the guns are locked up and in an area where the kids cannot get to them, it still does affect them and the parent does have a right to know.
I for one never underestimate kids abilities to get to places and into things that they shouldn't. How many stories do we all hear every year where some devastated mom or caregiver says, "I just looked away for a second!" I would just hate for something awful to happen.
Also, what if an intruder entered the home during day care hours? Would you be tempted to go for the gun? Would you be more than tempted? In that case it affects the kids in a very real way. What if that same intruder found the gun and used it to harm you or the kids?
I also have teenagers of my own and know that if there are teenagers in the home that adds a whole other layer of unpredictability. They probably know where the guns are stored and how to access them. Peer pressure anyone?

[Blackcat31]

what state are you in?

I am in MN

[lil angels]

We have a very large safe on another level of our home. It is a combo lock thing my husband is a bit of a collector. And I don't even think about it anymore it doesn't. Other me in the least. Everything is locked except if we go out to practice with them. Clay targets and things. Ilet my lisencer know when she comes and she always says looks great.

I was very nervous around guns when I met my husband didn't even want to touch one or look at it. But I started getting educated about them and now I rather enjoy shooting as a hobby.

I have never been asked by a family about it. I guess I would probably walk them to the. If in wall fire proof safe ( it would take a truck to get it out of here) and say everything is in here. If your not comfortable with it theirs the door