who has a Hand Gun ?

[wxman91]

Arlington just has MS-13 -- Arlington criminals prefer machetes to guns

LOL. Yeah, that was a big story, especially in 2005 and early '06. Haven't heard much about it since. Most of it was out in Fairfax Co., west of Arlington. Its too darn expensive for too many of the gang members (and me) to live in Arlington!

[HockeyMom]

I really don't think a person is going to be curious about something they are deathly afraid of.

Don't assume that they are deathly afraid, you never know if they will be curious when exposed to a gun. If you tell them to never touch one, they could easily be fascinated with what they aren't allowed to have.

[proudsioux]

I think in big hunting states like MN and ND they should muker hunter saftey mandatory.

[proudsioux]

Yeh but what if kids get a hold of the gun and dont no what there doing and they look down the barrel which they dont know what that is and thye pull the trigger and it happens to be loaded BOOM there goes someones kid. Now if someone had hutners saftey, they could put the saftey on, and give it to the right person.

[Siouxmama]

Yeah, that's a good point but we don't exactly forbid them to ever own a gun. We just try to explain to them how scary and dangerous guns are. Stay away from guns for the same reason you stay away from snakes or alligators. The topic almost never comes up in our home, but when a story like the one from a couple of days ago comes up we just use it as an opportunity to give yet another example of how bad guns are. We can only hope that will lead the kids to make the right choices when they get older.

Dave,

Do you also use that opportunity to tell them that it was a person that killed all of those innocent people, and not the guns action?

Guns don't kill people...people kill people.

That's a quote from the NRA, I think.

[proudsioux]

There are plenty of morons out there. Ur friends parents could leave a gun loaded.... another moron is the weirdo who killed 32. another moron is tim mcvey..anther moron is alfonzo...tehre are tons of morons out there that may throw there gun out of the window still loaded after a robbery or something or jsut after a murder...you never know...better to be safe then sorry.

[proudsioux]

well s&!t if we are banning everything that causes deaths, might as well ban cars, booze (mylifeline lol) and somking.

[Sioux-cia]

Don't assume that they are deathly afraid, you never know if they will be curious when exposed to a gun. If you tell them to never touch one, they could easily be fascinated with what they aren't allowed to have.

DaveK, my first thought when I read your statement was 'How long have you been a parent?' You can't make your children safe by making them 'deathly afraid of' anything. That's just plain sad. What kind of adult will they become??

Until recently, I never would considered having a gun in my home. I raised both my son's with my views on guns. They have their own now. My older son didn't have a toy gun for years. I saw him outside once with one of his dad's dress shoes. When I went into the yard where he was playing, I saw that he was pretending that his dad's shoe was a rifle.....

[proudsioux]

nothing wrong with that..but if a situation comes up when ur kid finds a gun, what do u think he will do? obviously what most kids would do PLAY WITH IT.

[proudsioux]

kids are curious man..sorry to tell u that

[Fetch]

Here is a Great T Shirt http://redneckndgoon.blogspot.com/2007/04/...less.html#links

[THETRIOUXPER]

I'm deathly afraid of guns and snakes. I stay away from guns and snakes. That makes me feel much safer than if I were to expose myself to guns and snakes. I'm merely trying to teach those same values to my children. What's wrong with that?

I respect a person for owning or not owning a gun. Some people simply were never exposed to it, therefore their children never get exposed to it. I don't think it's wrong either way.

[THETRIOUXPER]

nothing wrong with that..but if a situation comes up when ur kid finds a gun, what do u think he will do? obviously what most kids would do PLAY WITH IT.

I like to play with it......are we still talking about guns?

[siouxguyinstpaul]

I own two (40 caliber Glock and 44 Mag revolver) and have a permit to carry in Minny.

I don't walk around with a gun - but felt I should get the permit along with the required training for personal reasons.

Born and raised in Devils Lake - I grew up with hunting and sport shooting - so guns are just a part of life for this transplanted NoDak.

[siouxguyinstpaul]

Exhibit A in support of Gun Control Legislation.

ouch - guns are banned on the VT campus - I guess we need need more - like a big magnet in space to capture all the guns on the planet

[THETRIOUXPER]

I own two (40 caliber Glock and 44 Mag revolver) and have a permit to carry in Minny.

I don't walk around with a gun - but felt I should get the permit along with the required training for personal reasons.

Born and raised in Devils Lake - I grew up with hunting and sport shooting - so guns are just a part of life for this transplanted NoDak.

I know what you mean. I grew up around Bismarck, started hunting with dad when I was old enough to walk. When I got big enough to hold a rifle we used to shoot gophers in my grandpa's pasture. Since then I've hunted almost anything you can legally hunt, beast or bird. Some of the best times of my life have been hunting with friends and relatives. Man I love ND. It just seems so natural to own a firearm.

[siouxguyinstpaul]

In D.C. you can't possess a handgun that wasn't registered before 1976 (i.e. no 30 year old could legally own a gun). Further, if you happen to be old enough to have had a gun before the retroactive ban, D.C. law prohibits storing a gun in an operable condition, even in your home (i.e. useless for self-defense).

Examining D.C. crime/murders to determine the effect on such of getting guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens is left as an exercise for the reader.

Update -- DaveK's post reminded me that I didn't answer the question. Don't own any guns, but have no particular moral opposition.

This reader has observed that the murder rate per capita in DC is one of the highest in the nation.

[HockeyMom]

I'm sorry, but I'm not convinced that most kids would play with a gun if they found one. I would like to believe that most kids are smarter than that. I'm quite confident that some would, but I do not think it is obvious that most would.

Here's an example. My dad kept a small revolver in his drawer. They told us repeatedly to stay away from guns......you think I didn't show people that thing? Wrong. Of course, he didn't keep any ammo near it, which is probably a good thing.

Just tell your children that if the situation arises, and someone asks them to look at a gun, to get themselves out of that situation as soon as possible. And tell them if they have any questions they should ask you, and you can find the information together.

My neighbor-rest his soul-was told that alcohol was the devil when he was growing up, and he was never allowed to touch it. As soon as his father and mother passed away, he started to drink-heavily and didn't stop until the day he died.

It was a-I was never allowed to have this so now I'm going to try it thing.

My children have toy guns. They are not allowed to shoot other people with the guns. They have been told that they are to treat the toy guns as they would a real gun. I don't have a problem with that.

My husband is an avid hunter, has been his whole life. Since our oldest was old enough to walk, he has gone hunting with his dad. They both love it more than anything else plus they spend the time with each other and know each other well. They both have a respect for what guns can do.

[siouxguyinstpaul]

I totally agree. Problem is, bad guys still get guns and innocents are unprotected and senselessly murdered.

*Damn, I can't believe after all these years, I've moved to this side of the fence*

that is what happens with age, experience and knowledge

[siouxguyinstpaul]

Once again, in case you missed it on the last page...

“Last year in England, where guns are illegal, there were 14 deaths from hand guns. Fourteen. In America, where I think you know how we feel about guns (oh man, I

[Stromer]

What ever gave you that impression? I've never gone around asking people if they send their kids to hunter safety courses, but I can't think of a single one I know personally that I am aware of. Perhaps maybe we just hang around with different kinds of people.

I am wondering about this now. Where I grew up in rural ND, we had to take a hunter safety class as part of a Industrial tech class that we were required to take. So everybody, non hunters and hunters alike, had to pass a hunters safety class to pass the class and the grade. Mind you this was only 6 years ago so I guess I thought it was common in ND schools. Maybe not though.

[Fetch]

I let my son have toy guns & he had a BB gun by 5 & was shooting a shotgun by 8 (12 ga single shot) at ducks & geese - the next yr he had a pump

But I never let him treat a toy gun or BB gun any different than a real gun

This is my 16 month old Grandson (at 9 mo.)

& NO it is not normally part of school curriculum (only in schools with really good Admin. & Teachers)

[siouxguyinstpaul]

amazing - huh?

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/viewstory.asp?...L20070419b.html

I don't know - I feel safer when entering a building with a sign that states" "This establishment bans guns"

ya - right

[BisonMav]

[The Sicatoka]

Are we looking just murder or the total of all violent crime?