Does your family own a gun or guns?

DH does not hunt and neither do I, and neither of us are interested in them as a hobby. We don't live out in the country, if we did, we would probably have a rifle. But I am very very nervous about having a gun for personal defense, which is the only reason (that I can think of) to own one if you live in the city and do not hunt. I've not grown up around them, I'm not comfortable with them, and no matter how many trips to a shooting range I'd take, I just can't see myself comfortable enough with one to use it properly in a situation where I had to defend myself with one. I guess I just don't trust myself with a firearm.

Plus also, my father committed suicide with a gun, so there's some emotional baggage, too.

I didn't realize that half the citizens in America owned guns. That's a lot of ordinance.

Anhata
www.familynaturally.com
Your Family's General Store, Naturally

Well, we have them for a bit of everything. DH goes deer hunting (for sport and meat) and coyote hunting (predator control, they eat calves), so there is a gun for that. But that is too powerful to just go shooting prairie dogs (whose towns ruin my pastures), so we have a .22 for that. There is a handgun (9mm) that DH used when he was on the sheriff's reserves, and he wears it when we go camping in the mountains (bears and for self protection). Shotguns for shooting skeet and snakes (except for that rattlesnake I found in the garage. I figured a shotgun would be WAY too loud in an enclosed area, and the spray of pellets could mess up the walls. So I used the .22 rifle). Several other guns have been handed down. I have my daddy's first gun (a .410 under a .22). I will also get quite a few other nice ones when my daddy passes on. As will DH when his daddy does.

Of course they are locked up. Most of them. DH keeps one in his pickup for whenever he may need it (such as coyotes in the field). Oh, and we also have a wild hog problem at the moment. Don't want one of those running you down. DH has shot a few dogs before. One was keeping him from getting to his pickup from the tractor. Wild dogs are problems. They run in packs and kill calves.

But we don't lock up the ammo and guns seperate. Since ours are mainly for protection (mostly from wild animals, but you never know, with meth labs and illegal aliens around here), time is of the essence. The kids learn early on about death and to respect a gun at all times. When they are old enough, they will take hunter safety classes, too.

When she was 8, we took her to a home-schooler gun safety and knowledge course.

She did very well with the rifle, not so hot with the pistol.

Louisa, 6 shot her first rifle the last time we went out: it was an SKS. Its a very heavy rifle, so it doesn't kick all that much. She begged me, so I got down on my knees, balanced the rifle pointed downrange, socked it into her shoulder, and she took aim. Kinda. She was going downrange anyway.

I then put my arm around her back, and she tried squeezing off one round with her index finger. No dice. The trigger pull is stock, so it sits at about 8.5 lbs. She then switched to two fingers, and BLAM!

I suddenly realized I was holding a rifle, but no kid was to be found. I safed the firearm, securing it away, and then looked around. She was about 20 yards back where the minivan was parked, looking all excited. I was worried she was hurt, and kinda perplexed at *how* she could have gotten hurt, so I went back to her.

I got down to her level, and she was shaking her hands in that universal kid's expression that says 'no more.' "Dad, I don't wanna do that again."

"S'okay honey, you don't have to. Are you all right?"

"Yeah! Dad! My heart feels like its gonna jump outta my chest!"

She had a MASSIVE grin on her face.

LOL

She likes the BB gun tin-can shoots we have in the back yard, tho. Mighty fun for all ages! And yes, those are supervised, and safety glasses ARE required.