Firearms in the House

I am not into guns but my husband hunts. I agree with you...if they are going to be there, they need to be stored safely. It only takes a second to change/end a life forever!

Any time another adult comes to visit, you are right- they should put their firearm in the closet for safety. Doesn't matter how safe they are with it. keep it the way you have it. You are doing the right thing with keeping them locked and away.

M

Yes. My husband is in law enforcement and I grew up in a house with firearms as we all hunted. All guns are locked and safely secured. Your sister should respect your rules even if she doesn't follow them in her own house. If that's her reason for not coming over I think it's pretty ridiculous.

Well, here's what I think. Your house. Your rules.

It doesn't really matter that it's a firearm. It could be a puppy, a vomiting kid, drugs, or junk food. if you want it done a certain way in your home than that's how it should be done by anyone who comes to your home.

I think you have rationally thought out your position. Not only does it make sense, it's within the law and suggested guidelines for firearm safety which makes you a responsible adult.

let your sis stay home!

Lock them up, don't have them loaded, don't leave them laying around. We've taught the kids (using an antique that doesn't work) what to do - find an adult. Don't touch it. - if they see a gun.

I was recently told about a family where their little boys found a gun and one killed the other. They usually had them locked and unloaded but just that once...You're not asking too much of your sister. I think you're respectful, actually.

I know i was suppose to stop reading because I don't like the idea of firearms in a house with small children; however, I do believe that you are doing everything right, including not letting your sister in your home. If I ever do allow guns in my home, you have given me some great ideas for safety.

We don't own firearms and won't have them in our home, but the rest of my family ALL own firearms. It's not for me, but I don't have opinions about it for others. Everyone but my Dad is okay with locking/putting theirs away when we are over with our kids.

Sadly, I don't go to Dad's house anymore, because he refuses to put away ALL of his loaded guns. He thinks he needs at least one "handy." And no, he doesn't live somewhere that is high crime. He lives in a tiny Southern town of less than 300 people.

He was perfectly fine with locking up his guns when I was a child, but now that I want him to do so, he says I'm being a lazy Mom who doesn't want to watch her kids. And he also claims that I am asking him to lock up his guns for political reasons (?). Honesty, I think his mind is going...and I don't feel safer with him armed!

My sister and her husband, however, the world is WAY safer with them armed (ex-cop & ex-army special forces, 1st unit, jump unit). They don't have kids and don't usually put away their guns. If there are kids over, what they do depends - their guns are all upstairs and unless we are staying with them, kids have no reason to go upstairs (and they have a gate at the bottom of the stairs) so...no problem.

Why won't your sister put hers away?

I'm not against firearms in any way, in fact I bought my husband a new rifle and firing lessons for his birthday. I grew up in a house with guns and have a healthy respect for them and the safety required to maintain them appropriately and withouth harming others. All of my uncles are hunters and several are police officers. As children, when they came over the weapons either stayed in the car or were locked away with my father's for this EXACT reason.

Yes, we have the same rules in our house and had the same rules growing-up. You are not unreasonable and your sister's lack of respect for you is what is keeping her from coming to your home.

We have many firearms in our home. My hubby has his issued weapon, we each have a small hand gun (and each carry with our CPL), we have shotguns, bb guns, rifles...we all hunt.
We have 3 safes and the guns are put into the safe as soon as we walk in the door. It's always the first thing we do.
We have people come into our home quite often who are "packing" and as long as it stays on their person that's ok. I wouldn't ask them to remove it to be put into our safe, but would not allow it to be left out or set down or sitting in a purse for our kids to get to.
Your house ~ your rules.

We have multiple firearms in our home, all are locked in a gun safe, except for my handgun and my husband's handgun. They are in a hidden panel that our child is unaware of. If I had a sister/and or friend with a rule that I had to hand over my firearm when I went to their house, I would NOT give them my gun. However, out of respect, I would leave it in my car or at home. It would never occur to me to question my guests about guns in their possession.

I think you are being a very responsible gun owner and your rule is more than reasonable.

We have guns in our home but we purchased a large safe to put them in that is deep into our closet. This was done even before we had children. Although my thought is... I really don't think that you should make your guests lock up there gun either. As long as your children do not know that it is there and they keep their purse up high so that they can't get to it. My husbands best friend carries a pistol at all times. He is very safe with it and would never do anything to harm my daughter or his newborn son for that matter. If the person has been trained properly then I wouldn't worry about it. Just keep it high enough that they cannot get to it. If its concealed then they don't even know that they have it anyway. Just ask your friends to not bring it out when the children are present.

I have not recently felt that I needed to walk around with a gun on my person while in my own home. In Maryland-I think it is still the standard that guns must be locked away, and unloaded if there are children in the house under the age of 16-not sure about Texas.

We don't currently have firearms in the house, but we are planning to purchase a gun. We will keep in in a fingerprint safe by our bed so only my husband or I can access it. I wholeheartedly believe that what you're doing is 100% correct! When it comes to children and guns, you must be incredibly pro-active and safe! I grew up with guns, and we've already started instilling in our boys what to do if ever confronted with a real gun at a playmate's house or anything. I don't understand your sister. Does she think she'll need to draw her gun at your home? Doesn't she understand that a purse lying around is an invitation to small children in itself -and if it contains a gun -then boy, have you found trouble! I'm glad you're sticking by your rules. My father brings his concealed handgun to our home sometimes, but he leaves it in his car. Because we don't yet have a secured place for it, we don't allow it in the house and he respects that.

We have guns in our house and my husband has talked very intensly to our 4 yo about gun safety. Our son completely understands that he is never to touch the gun and he really shows no interest in it anyways. When he is a little bit older, my husband will take him and teach him how to shoot.

We do keep our guns loaded, because an unloaded gun is just a hammer. The whole purpose of having a gun is to be able to protect yourself and stuations happen instantly and you will not have time to unlock your safe and load your ammo. Keep your gun loaded but out of sight of the kids. Teach them the importance of not touching guns and just how serious they are.

If someone is carrying a gun on them, more than likely you aren't going to know it anyway, so I really don't see a problem if your sister carries her gun on her. My husband always carries a gun and I never even realize he has it until I see him taking it off. I guess that's why it's called concealed. I wouldn't be upset if I knew the person was a responsible person and wasn't going to take the gun out and start showing everybody.

Yes, we have the same rules here. As a matter of fact, we have our guns hidden away where even hubby & I have a difficult time getting to them. Ammo is kept in the same vicinity, just away from the gun. I think it's a great rule you've enforced!

I think the safest place for a live firearm is physically on an adult. Sadly I presently in Hawaii the state where it is illegal to carry in home or I would do that. If your sister always has the firearm on her person (not purse carry and even sleeps at your house wth it strapped to her body) I would be fine. I do something similar for non carry firearms as you do. I follow local laws but in Florida I took my 2 year old shooting often. I am a big believer that kids need to see what would really happen to someone shot with a gun. Watermelon is about the size of a head. We even draw faces on them. I used to let my kids hold unloaded firearms all the time and even help reload and clean. I cannot wait to get off the islands so my kids can resume firearms safety with real guns and can go to the range.