Dcproviders That Own A Gun...

[Blackcat31]

I live in CA in a very non-gun friendly area. No concealed carry permits authorized, only police or military. We have pellet guns and they're up in an off limits room closet inaccessible to children. I think if I had to I could do some serious damage with one. LOL

I just watched a documentary about guns and children and even the most safe families who teach their kids guns aren't for kids and keep them away still had fatalities with children & guns. Parents thought their kids didn't know their hiding places but sure enough they did. And kids who took classes about guns and if you see one to get an adult and never touch it and guns kill people. Well sure enough almost every young child touched the gun if not picked it up and pointed it in their own face or someone else's. It was alarming! Parents who "knew" their child "knew better" failed in every test. A police officer had his gun up high on his dresser to keep it away from his 3yr old son and one day he climbed up and they don't know what happened exactly but he shot & killed himself with his parents in the next room!

I know the country is a large assortment of different laws, opinions, etc, but I can only go by my own experiences and we don't like guns and I refuse to let dh have one until our kids are grown and gone!!

I saw that show too... I am willing to bet it was pretty "staged"....

I DO live in a pretty gun heavy area and there aren't many kids in my community that would behave as those kids did.

Oh and I know it's a cliché` but seriously, guns don't kill people.

People kill people.

Plus kids aren't suppose to "know better", they are suppose to be taught, supported and supervised.

Despite knowing better and being told, kids failed the "marshmallow" test 9 out of 10 times too.

Like anything dangerous.....simply ignoring or just not participating does nothing. Education IS everything.

BOTH my kids have had gun safety, snowmobile safety, boat and water safety courses and certificates of completion by age 12-14.

I don't think we owned a gun, snowmobile and/or boat when they took the classes.

[Cradle2crayons]

I own guns and a rifle. My husband owns guns and a rifle. I follow all state, local and licensing regulations. Our rifles are kept in a large gun safe in the garage, are always unloaded and the gun safe is always locked. On top of that the garage is not accessible to the children so the door leading to the garage is locked. We keep our handguns in a smaller safe which we keep upstairs. My upstairs is also not daycare space so there are two safety gates to keep the DCKS out. The safe is in a high place that is out of reach, even I have a hard time getting to it. Our ammo is in a seperate lock box which is in a completely different room upstairs. Our guns and rifles have additional safety locks installed directly on them even when in their safes.

No one would ever know that we own guns unless you were a very close friend or asked us outright. I don't include this information in my handbook or policies. If a parent asks me then I disclose it and explain everything above. I do understand that some people will not choose me for daycare if they learn that I keep guns in the house, its their right, but I don't outright tell potential clients if they don't ask. I suppose I feel that of a family feels so strongly about an issue then they should be the ones to ask.

It has been brought up before, very often actually, and I still had clients sign up. I'm sure thatt some had not signed up because of the guns and that's ok with me. I do not live in a rural area and did not grow up in one. I live in a smalish city.

This.

I carry concealed when daycare kids aren't here. I also carry in my vehicle when daycare kids aren't in it. But when it isn't on me and/or daycare kids are here they are locked in their own safe locked in a bigger safe locked in the master closet with a separate combo and key lock on the actual safe. Ammo is locked also. However when I'm carrying that actual handgun is loaded.

This is he way I was raised and my parents before me. We live very rural and everyone here owns at least a handful of various guns. Out here, our kids learn safer and have guns and shoot their first game by age five. All of my own kids can dismantle, clean, out back together, and load a firearm quicker than I can. There hasn't been the first gun fatality or gun accident here in a 100 mile radius in 20 years. There are reasons why. Of course it CAN happen. Not for a million years can a person honestly think it isn't possible.

And while there is no crime here, nobody can say for sure if it's because we all carry or just a different society out here.

But I can tell you this. In 1980, in a very very rural part of my sleepy country town, an 8 year old boy was being raised by his grandparents. In the middle of the night, their home was broken into by an escaped inmate from a few counties over. He was carrying a shotgun he stole from an armed guard at the prison. What he didn't expect was that he 8 year old boy heard the break in and saw the shotgun in the hands of the robber. That 8 year old boy grabbed his grandpas rifle and shot that criminal to death. Once in the chest. That 8 year old boy is my now 40 year old husband. Enough said.

[Cat Herder]

. And kids who took classes about guns and if you see one to get an adult and never touch it and guns kill people.

See, to me that is odd. :confused: That is not my culture at all.

Guns don't kill people any more than forks make people fat. People kill people and they better make %@#! sure they had no other option, here.

It is not a badge of honor to have to use one on somebody. It is something you will see in the mirror every day for the rest of your life even if you were 100% justified. The whispers and self doubt never stop. We KNOW this.

The classes kids take here teach them gun safety, not "don't touch it". How's that working for pot out there???

All of my kids have fired weapons at a range many times, they have seen the damage it causes to skin tissue and understand how a misfire can happen with the best of intentions. Guns are tools and can be as dangerous as the chainsaw I keep on the front porch to clear downed trees in winter.

Guns provide food as well as protection here. They respect guns here, not fear them.

It isn't complicated for me. The locks on my doors are not for my protection, they are for the person trying to come in on us. If you don't want to get shot, you don't break into peoples homes.

[Annalee]

Guns don't kill people any more than forks make people fat.

EXACTLY!!!!

[Cat Herder]

That 8 year old boy is my now 40 year old husband. Enough said.

Cold chills and lovethis Give him a hug for me, you don't have to tell him why.

[ihop]

Cold chills and lovethis Give him a hug for me, you don't have to tell him why.

Like this me toolovethis

[Cradle2crayons]

Cold chills and lovethis Give him a hug for me, you don't have to tell him why.

Like this me toolovethis

Will do!!

Here is a picture of my son, then 4 shooting his daddy's 30 alt 6 I believe it was. I have a video of it too. Of course this gun is too heavy for him to hold it up all by himself. He has a 22 he can hold and shoot. This one his daddy held and my son aimed and fired. He's a good shot . Yes, on his head is my old cars headrest seat cover . Don't ask why he's wearing it .

If it's not okay to post this, mods can remove it.

[sharlan]

I wouldn't take my kids to a provider's if I knew they had a gun. Why? I've posted some of my kids' daycare horror stories. Only heaven knows what would have happened if anyone had access to guns.

[Blackcat31]

But I can tell you this. In 1980, in a very very rural part of my sleepy country town, an 8 year old boy was being raised by his grandparents. In the middle of the night, their home was broken into by an escaped inmate from a few counties over. He was carrying a shotgun he stole from an armed guard at the prison. What he didn't expect was that he 8 year old boy heard the break in and saw the shotgun in the hands of the robber. That 8 year old boy grabbed his grandpas rifle and shot that criminal to death. Once in the chest. That 8 year old boy is my now 40 year old husband. Enough said.

If he was 8 in 1980, wouldn't he be 42 today?

[Cradle2crayons]

If he was 8 in 1980, wouldn't he be 42 today?

He was born in 1972 .. April... So yes, he would be 42 in April of this year ... So I was rounding haha...

I actually remember when the news reported the incident... He lived in a tiny part of our no name community called POLKVILLE, ms... And we lived in a no name community they called nothing .. We were between two communities closer to the crossroads community... I didn't meet him until much later... His biological mother who had him when she was 14 and dumped him with her parents when he was two... She told me the whole story when I first met her... I only heard bits of it from him when I first met him.

[Cradle2crayons]

I wouldn't take my kids to a provider's if I knew they had a gun. Why? I've posted some of my kids' daycare horror stories. Only heaven knows what would have happened if anyone had access to guns.

And I totally respect and understand that. I've lived in lots of different areas in my life... Some of which nobody but the cops owned a gun.. So I get it.

Some back history of where I live... I went to a tiny community private school about 5 miles north of where I grew up. My dad's family helped build that school in he early 70s. Anyway, up until years after I graduated, if you drove through the parking lot, every single truck would have shotguns mounted inside the window in the cab. Lots of hunters here. And it was legal. Even male coaches had guns hanging in their UNLOCKED vehicles. Fully loaded. At all times. Legal driving age was 15 but since there were no school buses, we all drove the five or ten miles to school at the tender ages of 12. We were all latch key kids at the tender age of 6. I'm now raising my kids one mile from my dad's family and one mile from where I grew up. 10 miles from where he grew up. Nothing here has changed. We still have one cop on duty. He also directs traffic into both schools (private and public) every morning. Still the SAME COP that did it when I was in school believe it or not.

No matter where I've ever lived..... I've always came back here. We will never leave again.

I can promise you, if I ever needed help, they are literally seconds away. Even though Pizza Hut and walmart are very far away .

[MarinaVanessa]

Guns don't kill people any more than forks make people fat.

lovethis

[Unregistered]

I'm in Kansas as well. No more juice we are really close We have a gun that is used for my husband's job. I tell all families in the interview that we have one and what are safety precautions are. I don't think I have ever lost a family because of that. I would want to know if my child were in a daycare with a gun. The craziest interview I had though told me that we could just leave it out and their son would never play with it. We said no to them because I was afraid they did leave them out at their house and one would wind up in a backpack at my house.

[Unregistered]

Texas. I am not fully aware of full details required by licensing at this point. I do know we are allowed to have guns though. I never bothered to look at the requirements for it when starting because at that time I had no intentions on getting one. However, I am now considering it. I definitely feel as providers we have a right to protect our own families, but definitely understand and respect that not all parents will agree.
Thanks to those who gave input on how it has affected your business or how it hasn't!!

[Jack Sprat]

Cat Herder brings up a good point: in the rural areas, it is almost always acceptable to assume everyone has guns. When I lived in western KS, it was expected. But when I moved back to the Kansas City area, it is totally opposite!

I must note, I think people who live in rural areas are typically MUCH more responsible with their guns because they were raised to respect them. City kids like me, who grow up watching people get killed by gunshot wounds just miles from your house, tend to fear them. We're all just products of our environment!

I agree! When I was a nanny in Boston and mentioned owning a shot gun I was looked at like I was crazy! Now that we live in rural Northeastern KS it the norm. We have a gun safe that is always locked in our garage that is always locked. We also have bows, and bb guns that are in the same locked safe. Many of my parents have guns as well for sport and safety.