The Gun Talk

As a hunting, pro-gun family I have one very important thing in common with my anti-gun friends, and that is that we BOTH want to keep guns out of the hands of our kids.

I remember the first time I awkwardly had "the talk" with a fellow mom.
My husband had been in the garage reloading ammo and the neighbor boy was intently watching and asking questions and then said: "I'm going to tell my dad he needs to learn to do this."
My heart sunk as I realized if this kid just ran home and told his parents that the neighbor was playing with bullets in his garage, it could definitely be blown-up and misunderstood.
So I text his mom, and in true Brandy-style, I word vomited more than needed to be said.

"Hey. We definitely weren't playing with guns around your kid. My husband is just reloading ammo. All our guns are under lock and key, but because guns were being talked about, we also told your son that he is never allowed to touch any in our house if for some weird reason he did come across one. I hope that's ok. I'm sorry if we crossed any lines".

There are 100 ways I could have worded it better or handled the situation differently, but at the end of the day, a fellow mom now knew that we had guns in our home and that we felt strongly about keeping the kids safe around them.

When I was a kid, every family I knew had guns, and as kids, we just knew the rules not to touch without mom or dad around.
But, becoming a parent has made me realize we can do so much better than that.

I know that my rule-following, obedient, sweet kid who won't even smash a spider, has been known to act a fool and forget rules with the excitement of friends around.

So, she may KNOW that she shouldn't touch our guns, but will she remember when it matters?
I certainly don't want to gamble her life to find out.
So we lock our guns up.

I'm not saying you buy a lock instead of talking with your kids about gun safety, though.
We need both!

Gun safety doesn't begin and end with gun owners either.

Non-gun owners, you need to be having these conversations too. It's not just about asking other parents if there are unsecured guns in their home.
You have to start talking with your kids.
Tell them that guns are not toys and that they kill what they are pointed at.
Tell them to treat EVERY gun like it is loaded,  which means you don't pick it up and you definitely don't point it at anyone.
Tell them if they see a gun to go tell an adult.

If you are comfortable enough, go shoot targets with your kids (your local gun range rents guns and could help). Understanding first-hand how guns actually work - and can sometimes hurt to shoot - will take away the mystery and bring about the respect that guns require.

In a time where guns are such a divisive topic, we need to set aside the politics of the conversation and address the practical things we can be doing to keep kids safe.
There is a middle ground where safety and responsibility are paramount.
Let's hold each other accountable and make the gun conversation a normal conversation.