When is the right time to talk to your children about guns?

By Marc Alan Urbach, WTK Constitutionalist, journalist and author,

The answer is very simple, yet complex. There is no right or wrong answer. Every child is unique and different in their own way, so you first need to evaluate your child and determine if they want and are ready to learn about guns. I feel the best time is when the child expresses an interest in guns. Children at a young age have a tremendous learning advantage once they set their goals about grasping a new idea or concept.

What should you do if your child shows no interest in guns? My personal preference is to at least talk to them about the dangers of guns and teach them the correct thing to do if they ever find one. Knowledge is power and all children should learn how people injure themselves with guns because they are not adequately trained or are simply irresponsible.

I personally like the NRA’s gun safety mantra, which is, “If you see a gun, STOP! DON’T TOUCH! LEAVE THE AREA! TELL AN ADULT.” This is the most basic skill to learn yet very powerful and effective.

Once your child shows a desire to learn about guns, you should introduce basic knowledge to them in a professional manner. Such as, owning a gun is an “unalienable” God given right enshrined in our Second Amendment to the Constitution. The Federal Government is restricted from taking that right away from you. As General and President George Washington said, “A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined…”

Second, you should talk to them about how the overwhelming majority of legal gun owners are not criminals and do not partake in shooting people. Third, you can talk to them with facts that show the overwhelming majority of crimes committed with guns are done by criminals who’ve obtained the gun illegally. It is a fact that the overwhelming number of NRA members do not commit crimes and kill people. Fourth, once your child wants to go and shoot a gun, you should most definitely talk to them about gun safety. Do this with an unloaded gun with the clip out. I believe you should teach them the three basic safety rules. The NRA’s three basic safety rules are. “1. Always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction. 2. Always keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot. 3. Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use, then it is time.

Depending on the child you might be ready to take them to the shooting range. Make sure they are extremely grounded in every character trait before you go.

I would use an unloaded gun at first and go through all the required steps to actually shoot the gun. Go through the steps over and over with them until they know them backwards and forwards. It might be best to start with a BB gun and then move up to a real pistol or rifle.

Your son or daughter will very much respect you for taking the time to teach them properly about gun safety. If they do not want to ever shoot one that is perfectly fine. You’ll feel much better about yourself knowing that you taught your child the best way to keep them safe from guns. On the other hand, if your child does want to shoot a gun they will love you over and over for teaching them the proper skills to shoot and their Constitutional rights of owning a gun.

I believe our Righteous Christian Founding Father, Representative from the Commonwealth of Virginia and Signer of the Declaration of Independence, Richard Henry Lee said it best, “To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them.”

Thank you for taking the time to read this article, Marc

Some of the quotes and portions of this article come from the NRA website. You can read their article at:

http://www.nrafamily.org/articles/2016/3/10/how-to-tell-when-your-child-is-ready-to-learn-about-guns/

We the Kids believes it is important to protect our children. One of the best ways to do this is to EDUCATE them. 
As such, we are utilizing the Eddie Eagle Program to teach gun safety. Children need to know that "Guns are TOOLS 
not TOYS!" and what to do if they come upon one!

WE THE KIDS is a supporter of Eddie Eagle Gun Safety Program.

https://eddieeagle.nra.org/