CHL and Children

[frazzled]

As brought up in the 'How often do you Carry' thread, an item of mine arose.

To those who have children, how do you work with that and CHL?

The kids are very aware we have firearms and like to shoot. Further, they've seen them about with me cleaning items from time to time (I like to quiz the youngest once in a while on identifying toys vs. non-toys and what to do if they come across one or what may be one). The oldest hunts. We keep firearms locked up, with a fast speed safe as well for the nightly deposit. OTT but any future boyfriends will definitely be aware of our gun nuttiness... young man…

However, neither is aware of our CHLs and we prefer it at this time. The wife has no problem, but with a holster its more of an issue for me.

So
Any special issues?
Are your kids aware?
General thoughts?

[Kalrog]

My son kinda had to be told about 6 months ago. I was carrying and he felt it and was about to make a big deal about going to find out what that hard thing was. So we treated it like anything else we don't talk about with strangers and I showed him. He had seen me put it on previously, but it really didn't sink in what I was doing. Now he knows and he doesn't tell anyone. He is 6. My 3 year old doesn't know yet.

It was really funny going on the cruise at the first of the year. He saw the metal detectors and asked what they were and what they were for. His eyes got REALLY big and looked at me - but wouldn't ask the question. So I let him know that it was okay and that I had planned for this. He was calm after that.

[Biga9999]

I had the same concerns. I have a 4 yr old daughter who picks up on everything. I like the idea of this is something we don't talk about with strangers. I could completely see her telling the lady behind us in line at Target "My Daddy has a gun!"

I too quiz her about guns and what to do if you see one. Took it to the next level and gave her a practical exam the other day. I triple checked to make sure my glock was not loaded, and left the mag out. I left it on my bed next to a book I was reading. I went into the living room and asked my daughter to go grab my book. She went in there, and came back a few seconds later asking why my gun was on the bed. She did not touch it and came to get me right away. Talking about guns is very important, but I wanted to see what she would do in an actual situation. I was very proud of her.

[jdh2580]

My 4 year old knows 'Daddy carries a gun'. He is very respectful of any gun and even treats his toys like I treat the real things because he has been taught from an early age.

Being as young as he is he does not understand yet about a CHL but he does know 'because I've told him' that it is a secret that daddy carries a gun. We had one incident where he almost outed me in public about six months ago. Since then not a word about it even when I am carrying him and 'The butt is hurting his butt'! I just switch sides or readjust and we move on.

And of course as you said all guns that are not on me are locked away for safe keeping just in case he gets curious!

[longtooth]

All above is good. It is the grandchildren for us. The 2 youngest dont remember seeing Papa w/o a gun on. Son & I both are 24-7 & that includes in the house. When Qs were asked about a gun we answered them & started the dont tell bet by including our carry weapon w/ our underwear. We dont talk about our underwear in public.
That worked so well that when I have been asked if I had a gun on by an adult I used it. "it is not nice to ask people about their underwear in public."

[Biga9999]

I like that approach.

All above is good. It is the grandchildren for us. The 2 youngest dont remember seeing Papa w/o a gun on. Son & I both are 24-7 & that includes in the house. When Qs were asked about a gun we answered them & started the dont tell bet by including our carry weapon w/ our underwear. We dont talk about our underwear in public.
That worked so well that when I have been asked if I had a gun on by an adult I used it. "it is not nice to ask people about their underwear in public."

[crochetetc]

My daughter is 6 and she was told up front about it. We explained that she can talk about it in the privacy of the home but not in public. I took her with me clothes shopping as I needed new conceal shirts and she didn't say a word like it was normal to be there. Of course we have been working with her and letting her shoot since last year. She knows the rules, was excited to have the lesson at school and already have all the answers. She has no interest in handguns at this time, recoil on my walther p22 is a little much. We did purchase her a cricket and added a scope.


We also did the leave an unloaded open with no mag out on the bed and had her bring us something and she came screaming to hurry and get it put up. When we first brought them home we allowed her to hold, touch and ask any questions she wanted and followed it up by a trip to the range.

I think making it a normal everyday thing helps with her not being curious or exposing it.

What do you guys do with your nightstand guns? Do you keep one out with the kiddos or keep it under lock and key?

Right now I have nothing within reach for middle of the night but not sure with the kiddo getting up when sick or having nightmares on occassion.

[will381796]

What do you guys do with your nightstand guns? Do you keep one out with the kiddos or keep it under lock and key?

I'm lucky that my nightstand has a hidden drawer built into it that serves as an excellent place to stash my carry piece when I'm sleeping for "middle of the night" occurrences. Other than sleeping and at work, it is on me. My backup (aka too big for conceal carry) gun is locked up in a quick-release gun safe (GunVault) in my closet locked and loaded. My other guns are locked up in their cases or with trigger guards in place and unloaded out of reach and hidden.

My daughter is only 22 months old right now, so I've got to start preparing to introduce these things to her. She's seen me clean my guns but loses interest quickly. I plan on exposing her to guns at an early age, and like you said, making them a normal part of life. My CHL will stay secret until she outs me haha.

[frazzled]

We have a quick release vault.

[fredtubbs]

http://corneredcat.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A great website about kids and guns. I found her advice and experience very useful when dealing with my 6 year old and guns/CHL.

[TheArmedFarmer]

We have 4 children (ages 4 through 10) and they all know very well that both MrsFarmer and myself carry 24/7, no matter what we're doing. I perceive that this knowledge it is a source of security for them.

No matter what I'm doing, I'm carrying. I even slaughtered a cow a couple months ago with my Kimber openly carried on my side.

I satisfy the children's curiosity about the guns by letting them shoot whenever they want to (which is fairly often). The four year old loves shooting my Walther P22 (he started shooting it when he was three). The older ones enjoy shooting our SKS and the AR-15. We have swinging reactive targets and they just love those. They also setup 12" logs on the dirt driveway and shoot them down one by one with the .22 rifle.

The guns are not mysterious or unusual around here. I openly carry all day long and only conceal when we're heading into town for some errand, which is quite rare. (Side note: the workers that come to the farm have all gotten used to seeing my handgun and they think nothing of it.)

Except for my bedside shotgun, we keep all the guns in my office, which is actually a closet of our master bedroom. The children aren't allowed in our bedroom, and it is clear that nobody is to touch any gun in the house unless I tell them to, and that only happens when we're shooting.

We never have children over, so the only children here are my own. If we ever had other people's children here, I would lock the bedroom door for the duration of their visit.

[SD4]

I have a five year old (almost 6) that is aware that I carry. I made it a point to instill in her the seriousness of firearms from a young age. She knows that she is to tell me if she ever comes across one and never touch it. I do keep them put away except for one in the drawer of my nightstand when I go to sleep. I've never tested her on this, but she did let me know when she came across an empty magazine one time.

I bought her a BB gun (with a pink stock) for her fifth birthday. She loves to shoot it, and we go over the four safety rules every time we get it out. She's done real well so far, and when she gets just a little bit older, I'm going to get her a cricket.

[dmac]

What a timely topic.

Yesterday I was switching the laser grips on my two j-frames. I did this at home, at mydesk, in front of the computer. I unloaded both guns, of course, and began the switch-over. After I was done i reloaded both guns. I put mine in it's safe place by the door. The other belongs in a safe in my wife's car.

After putting my gun in it's spot I received a phone call. I wander when I'm on te phone, so I ended up in the garage sorting loose ammo in the safe while I talked. When my call was over my wife came out and started talking to me, it was then that I realized that I had left her gun, loaded, on the desk. I ran inside to find my 5 year son at the desk playing......on the computer. My wife freaked and I, of course, felt horible, but relieved as well.

I had him pause the game and, with my wife there, asked him some questions. Had he seen the gun? Yes. Did he touch the gun? NO Daddy. I asked him what he was supposed to do if he ever found one of daddy's guns. Stop...don't touch...get a grown up, he said. My wife was impressed...I don't think she knew that I had gone over that routine with him (Iknow...I should have gone over it with her too). What did you not do? I asked my son. Get an adult he said. Why I asked. because I wanted to play games he said.

Everything was fine...but a good and serious lesson was learned by all. And no...I haven't heard the end of it yet.

[barres]

My 8-year old knows I carry as often as I possibly can, and he knows that we need to be discrete about it. One of his friends at school once said to us that his Dad had a gun in his truck, and my son looked at me, but said nothing. I was armed at the time, and my son knew it. I only worry about this son outing me a little bit, because he likes to come up and give me a hug from time to time, and I'm afraid he might inadvertantly expose my weapon when he does so. (But I'm glad he still likes to give me hugs, and I'll cherish that for as long as I can, because I know it won't last forever!)

My 3-year old is a different story. He is incapable of discretion at his age. I try not to dress with him in the room. Still one morning, as I came out of the bedroom, he asked me, "Where is your gun, Daddy?" I had my P3AT in my pocket, but I told him that my guns were put away. He knows that I have several guns, and that I will carry them around the house, but I don't think he knows that I carry them outside the house, yet. Or maybe I'm underestimating him...

At home my guns are kept in a safe, on me, or out of reach of the 3-year old in a locked room. The 8-year old knows not to touch the guns without my making sure they are safe first. Both of my sons know that they can look at and touch (and even pull the trigger on) any of my firearms that they want to, so long as I make sure it is safe, first. I have done the leave a gun (unloaded, no ammo anywhere nearby) out test on the older son a few times over the last few years. Unfortunately, he failed the first time and just picked it up. He has not since. He is now my range buddy. It is about time to start teaching gun safety to the 3-year old.

[tfrazier]

I was a police officer back when my kids were young and I went everywhere armed per department policy (nowadays it's per 4Frazier's policy). At home I kept it in the holster on top of the refrigerator for quick access in my gun belt where the kids "couldn't reach it" (bad idea, would never do that nowadays) because there were lots of times I was rushing out the door on an emergency and every second counted.

Now I have a grandbaby who's going to be visiting more and crawling soon. Since we're empty-nesters I've gotten into bad habits that I have to correct immediately. Guess I'll be looking for a quick-access safe of some kind. Of course, I could just keep it in the steel gun cabinet with the key on a chain around my neck. Maybe the American Mastiff, Pit Bull, and Chow/Aussie Shepherd Mix will hold the bad guys off long enough for me to get to it (of course, they're another reason my grandson will always be well attended by us...it's a very bad idea to leave a child unattended with a big dog, regardless of how friendly it is).


These three don't have safeties, they're always loaded, and they love me almost as much as they love my wife (she feeds 'em!).