14 yr old carrying at home .. bang 1 possibly dead thief .. what a shame :-)

http://www.azcentral.com/community/...2laveen-police-person-shot-critical-abrk.html

That's the gun control I support !

This is a very dear topic to me. I'd like to hear other peoples opinions on this question. With regards to your own children: when did you, or would you, allow this kind of situation? Here's what I mean... When my son turned 10 I allowed the situation of him being "home alone" for 30 minutes between me leaving for work and my wife getting home from work. When he is a few years older.... 13 or 14 I guess..... I may feel good about him staying home for a few hours if my wife and I want to go catch a movie alone. But in these situations all guns are under lock and key. But at what point do you begin allowing the idea of a child accessing a hand gun when your not there? On the one hand a child that can be trusted to be home alone for 2-3 hours may not be trusted to resist the temptation of looking at one of dad's guns. On the other hand if a child of 13 or 14 is going to be left alone for 2-3 hours should he be completely defenseless if the worst happens?

I have no problems with it. I was explained early on about guns, and what repercussions they can have when using them. I also knew what my dads leather belt was like and restriction was, when I had the gun without permission.

Kids Imo today are to pampered, which is most parents faults, as well as society. I want whats best for my kids, but at the same time, I know they won't have the world handed to them on a silver platter.

30 years ago this wouldn't even be a issue. Parents/society need to start taking responsible time in teaching about life, instead of hoping the baby sitter, neighbor does it for them. It would also help if parents took responsibility, when the kid does wrong and not blame it on something else.




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I dont think that question can be answered meerly with ages, so ...

When I was 10 I went to live with my father to help him out, long story short he had brain surgery at the same time he was going through divorce. I was all he had, he needed me and I stepped up. Over the course of the next couple of years we spent a lot of time learning about gun safety, the do's and do nots, when I was 12 I had full access to every firearm and ammunition in the house. The key here is that I wasn;t curious, I did not have the "wow a gun" factor. That and I was pretty well adjusted shooting and handling. At 12 years old I had my own .22 Remington and 12 guage Mossberg 500. I was home alone for a couple hours on occasion and I dont think my father ever worried about me being able to defend myself in that type of situation. I have to say never did i just play with the guns, I didn't have to, it wasn't the forbidden fruit for me.


With that being said the situation came in handy one night when his ex wife showed up with new boyfriend, arguement commenced and the new boyfriend was holding a gun (not pointed at my father) he was holding it to his side. I was watching the situation and seen this, went to load his .32 revolver and passed it along to him. Another long story short, the new boyfriend decided it was time to leave and did.


The thing with kids, it all depends on the situation, maturity, responsibility. One 14 year old I can trust with a shotgun or any other firearm... another one I may not give a slingshot to.

As far as being home alone...

Lets say you leave your 14 year old home alone and defenseless... BG decides that your house is his next hit.. where does that leave your child?

Personally I am not leaving my child home alone without means to defend himself in this situation, and therefore he will not be left alone until responsible enough to trust with a firearm in the home.

I would not want to live the rest of my life knowing my son would not have been killed in that breakin, if I were home, or he could get to a gun to defend himself.

It is different for each individual, and what they can and cannot be trusted to do.

Hats off to this 14 year old!

I know I am not in Arizona, but the headline to this caught my attention...

At 7 I shot my first handgun. My brother shot it as well and he's two years younger. In our house the only locked when it came to firearms was locked and loaded. 12 guage, .22 rifle, 38 revolver, 25 semi, with more in later years.

At 12 I was left in charge of my youger siblings as long as 12 hours at a time. We lived in the country and my father was a state police officer so it was a big deal to leave us alone knowing someone might come looking for him (it had happened). Obviously, with all weapons locked and loaded, I had access to defense equipment and I knew what to do if something started to go down.

At 14 I got my own 12 gauge for xmas. My brother and I, along with two friends (all 12-14) would go hunting together. Our friends would be on a 125cc motorcycle, my brother and I at the ends of a rope tied to the back of the motorcycle and wrapped (not tied) around our handlebars. We all had slung shotguns with the guy on the front of the bike sling his across his chest. We would go 15 or 20 miles out into the country to hunt all day long.

We NEVER even drew a second glance from anyone.

At 16, I walked into the hardware store with cash and bought a 12 guage Wincheter model 1200 pump, two boxes of shells, and walked out the door with them. Put them in my trunk and went back to school. Mine was in the trunk but a lot of kids had their rifles and shotguns in the window racks of their trucks.....in the school parking lot!!!!!!!

And believe it or not, this was in California, before it became Kommiefornia. (Yes I am now technically "old").

Bottom line, it depends on the kid and the parents.....has the kid been taught firearms safety AND use?

I think it all depends on the kid's experience and maturity level.

My family weren't "gun nuts", but we were shooting as soon as we were old enough to hold a rifle and aim it. Dad was a SAC warrior so we learned weapon safety before we knew the alphabet.

At 10 Dad bought my brother and I a Winchester Model 94, 30-30 for Christmas. A year or two before IIRC, we got an H & R single shot 410. Before that we were shooting (supervised) dad's old single shot .22 rifle that HE bought by himself when he was 12.

We were left home for a few hours everyday during school season (mom drove the bus) and we never had a gun safe and nobody (there were four kids all within 5 years of age, me being #1) "played" with them either. We kept our rifle and shot gun (with ammo)in our own closet.

I'm happy to report that there was never a gun accident at home. Also thrilled that all 3 guns are still in perfect working order and at my brother's house where he's teaching his grand-kids the tradition.

In NC there are 'strict' laws NC GS 14.315.1 in place about minors (<18) having access to firearms to the point if the minor takes your firearm to school you are charged with:

NC GS 14‑269.2. It shall be a Class I felony for any person to cause, encourage, or aid a minor who is less than 18 years old to possess or carry, whether openly or concealed, any gun, rifle, pistol, or other firearm of any kind on educational property. However, this subsection does not apply to a BB gun, stun gun, air rifle, or air pistol.

When you purchase a firearm, from an FFL, in NC you must sign a form letter, kept by the FFL, acknowledging you are aware of 14.315.1 portion of the NC statutes.

wabbit

PS: mite consider getting your youn'g some pepper spray for his defense and coordinate w/a neighbor a safe haven for the youn'g to go incase of emergency. course, in our neck of the woods the youn'gs can shoot their rifle/shotguns quite well...(query...have you thought where is your children are suppose to meet you in case of a weather, fire, etc.?)

pps...two... good for you on showing your children they have earned your trust at such an early age. Keep it up and you shouldn't be disappointed as they get older!!

ppsss...i also purchased my own 22 when i was thirteen and then purchased the level action of the same mdl remington. one finally gave up the ghost 50 years later!!

Maine Expat said:

I'm happy to report that there was never a gun accident at home. Also thrilled that all 3 guns are still in perfect working order and at my brother's house where he's teaching his grand-kids the tradition.

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We only had one gun incident at my house and it was my dad who almost got killed. He made a big show one night of cleaning his service revolver....did it in the living room..... he did the cleaning and then made a big show out of loading it back up..........now when I say he made a big show I don't mean he went all hollywood, he just made sure it was obvious to all (particularly my mother). He then went into the kitchen and a few minutes later we head a loud boom.

We raced in, dad was almost doubled over.......trying not to laugh...... He'd set off a firecracker in the kitchen to see the reaction. Yup my dad almost got killed.....by a frying pan or kitchen knife. He never did that again!

We-the-People said:

At 16, I walked into the hardware store with cash and bought a 12 guage Wincheter model 1200 pump, two boxes of shells, and walked out the door with them. Put them in my trunk and went back to school. Mine was in the trunk but a lot of kids had their rifles and shotguns in the window racks of their trucks.....in the school parking lot!!!!!!!

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Reminds me of how it was when I was that age. Half or more of the vehicles on the parking lot were armed during hunting season. Several were armed year round.

I LOVE this! Too bad a 14 year old had to make that decision, but kudos to his parents for raising their kid right.

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OldCurlyWolf said:

Reminds me of how it was when I was that age. Half or more of the vehicles on the parking lot were armed during hunting season. Several were armed year round.

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The previous post reminds me of my first firearms purchase -- a Ruger Blackhawk .357 bought from Western Auto in Williams, AZ -- when I was twelve years old. Of course, I took my new lever-action .22 to Third Grade show-and-tell some years before. And all of us had racks in our pickups with rifles and/or shotguns in them parked in the parking lot during High School.

God Almighty, I miss what this country *USED* to be...

I have been staying at home by myself since I was around six years old. You know, the general rules: Don't answer the door for people you don't know, if you feel like someone is trying to get in call 911. As I got older, my dad told me if anyone broke in to lock myself in their bedroom, call 911, and to get his pistol (he kept a .25 ACP in his sock drawer). If they tried to come through the door, I warn them. If they don't go away, I shoot. Stayed by myself a lot growing up. Get off the bus, pop some toaster struddle or a poptart in, watch some tv. Then homework. I didn't grow up thinking my parents didn't love me, and I never thought of shooting up a school because my dad showed me where his gun was.