My neighbor knows the horrors of cleaning up the blood splattered bedroom of her friend’s son. They’re from Indy - near Butler. The teenage son shot and killed himself. Teenagers are not adults, sometimes they make the most unexpected idiotic decisions. This kid would be alive if it weren’t for an adult’s decision to keep something in the home (in a cabinet) so easy to use and so quick to kill.

The forbididden fruit analogy should be considered with what we all know to occur in our own lives. If there is a compound mitre saw in the garage and no comfort level to use it…it just sits there…no fancy woodwork. Sure, you might saw your finger off because you haven’t had training, but chances are your fingers will be just fine because the mitre saw will be wholey ignored. If you have a hand pastry blender in your kitchen drawer, but Grandma never taught you how to use it, it just sits there. If the multimeter is given to someone with no electrical knowledge - they won’t even think about it during times when it could be used. Common knowledge shows if you don’t have experience, you are not likely to choose it.

Teaching a child how to operate a gun safely isn’t like teaching them how to operate a bicycle safely. The gun is designed to be an efficient killer. There is plenty of time in adulthood to learn gun safety.

It’s not about making children comfortable using a gun, and therefore capable. It’s about the development of the human brain, a child cannot be instilled with adult judgement just because they have been filled with information and passed the tests.

I don’t deny the boy’s natural “aggressive/protector” instinct. Just like I don’t deny the girls “submissive/nurturer” instinct. Humans also have an instinct to consume high starch and fat for the sheer purpose of hording energy. Instinct doesn’t trump judgement.

I have yet to meet the American who must hunt for sustenance, so why chose guns for a child? Self defense? Well maybe, back when the pilgrims were fighting the Indians. Sport is the only logical answer I have. Sport. What degree of danger is acceptable to still be
considered an appropriate children’s “sport”? Football gets a lot of flak about the dangers of their sport. They may think otherwise, but football players are not designed to be efficient killers. I view Hockey and Rugby as “dangerous” sports - missing teeth and
concussions…

There are lots of accidents with archery or knives - there’s blood and pain and a Tetnus shot - but accidental death would take some pretty amazing circumstances. Maybe you could consider fencing as a less lethal alternative…

I don’t accept the “it won’t happen to me” idea. We have family and friends whose kids are well trained with guns, nothing hideous has happened to them. I also have family and friends who refuse seatbelts, chain smoke, and drive while intoxicated and they are still alive…

It’s that blood on the carpet and splattered against the walls thing that I cannot escape - kids aren’t adults. I guess if you haven’t been close to it, it doesn’t haunt you. My neighbor was a NRA member, grew up in a hunting/fishing family up North, her husband had a gun collection. They mounted their prized antique rifle over the stone fireplace which displayed the antlers. She came home from cleaning the boy’s bloody bedroom and removed every gun and the cabinet from the home. She told me the most important thing to do before my child goes to a new house is to ask if there are any guns in the house. That thought had never occurred to me before her tragic experience. Guns are not for children.