Our butcher was out today to butcher our 2 pigs. In the midst of all the work they left the fully loaded rifle here! I have 4 kids of all ages and can see them playing with something like that.

We didn't find it until the butcher called back several hours later when he was looking for his missing gun. He was suitably horrified as am I.

Keep an eye out for this sort of mistake on your homestead. We are so careful about guns and ammo in our house but this one was brought in and left - fully loaded with no safety on. Yikes- I shake when I think of all the things that could have happened with curious (even though properly "educated") children. Amy

-- Amy Richards (amysgarden2@earthlink.net), February 26, 2002

Answers

Brought in by who? Which person did this? Was it an adult or was it a child? Where was this loaded weapon left? Within reach of a child? Who was responsible? Did the weapon do this by its self? Who needs further training in your house?

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), February 26, 2002.

Sheesh Mitch ... she told you all that right there in the post. It's a scary thing to happen, and I'm SURE Amy and her household will keep a sharp eye on anyone with a firearm spending any time on their property for whatever reason!

Thanks Amy, for sharing something that I'm sure will wake you up in the middle of the night from time to time with a shudder! SO happy to hear that nobody was injured or worse! Have a good evening!

-- Phil in KS (pemccoy@yahoo.com), February 26, 2002.

Amy..it sounds like this was a tramatic thing for you. And I am sorry for that..That being said..(and this will certainly show my age and how I was brought up) had that been our place growing up..us kids might have drawn Mom and Dads attention to it..but they would never have worried about us kids handling a loaded gun. That was something taught to us, like not touching the stove. Come to think of it..When my folks told us something (of real importance and immediacy) like leaving All guns alone, well, there was no dicussion, no what ifs, no sneaking back and just putting a finger on it. No ..actually meant no in our house.

When I was growing up..I knew a boy that got killed by being hit with a bullet. It was an accident. The other boy with the gun shot into a pond and the bullet skipped like a stone across the top, took a weird bounce and struck the second boy. Kids back then, where we lived, hunted, trapped and killed predators killing livestock, and sick animals. There was never these stories of kids PLAYING with real guns. Of course, back then, all of us kids had toy guns!

Boy, I am not exactly sure where I am going..I guess just that a loaded gun cannot kill anyone. 99% of the time it takes a person to pull the trigger, whether through intent, stupidity or ignorance. It seems people love to get worked up over guns.

Do not mean to step on toes...but this kinda OH NO story is rampid in our media and society. Sometimes we old ducks just have to vent!..Sorry and have a great day!

-- Sher in se Iowa (riverdobbers@webtv.net), February 27, 2002.

My mother had a younger brother, James. When he was 5 years old, he was playing with a buddy. The buddy says "Let's go in the house" There, they went in the parents' bedroom. The buddy picked Daddy's pistol, and (childlike) said "James, I'm going to shoot you." The bullet killed him instantly. My best friend had a 17 year old son, who was with a buddy of his, playing quick-draw. Same fatal result.

-- Buddy in east Ga. (Buddybud@csranet.com), February 27, 2002.

Kids and guns DO NOT mix! Maybe those with guns know that their children are taught better than most. I hope so. Maybe their kids will never do drugs. Drink and drive. Have unprotected sex. Their kids will never steal or lie or fall prey to peer pressure.

If I had children I would not have any guns and I WOULD hand out condoms.

And to the person that said “I knew a boy that got killed by being hit with a bullet. It was an accident. The other boy with the gun shot into a pond and the bullet skipped like a stone across the top, took a weird bounce and struck the second boy.” That is not a weird thing. First thing I was taught about gun safety is that you never shoot into water. Try tossing a stone across water and not having it skip. Bullets work the same way.

-- Diana (dvance4@juno.com), February 27, 2002.

Buddy, guess this kinda proves my point about how we were raised.

-- Sher in se Iowa (riverdobbers@webtv.net), February 27, 2002.

appaerntly ,,it wasnt obvious that the gun was there,,since the kids,, or the parents, didnt even know about it till the butcher called back. So,, now would be a good time to teach the kids about guns,, and when they see one lieing around,, to get a parent

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), February 27, 2002.

Why is this issue any different than you kids going into the home of a friend? Any place you child goes could could expose them to a loaded firearm. Training is very important since you cant control every place your child will be in.

Not only training but testing. I have an old non-functioning firearm that gets left around the house from time to time to test my son. Was hard when he was little but now he is very aware of what guns can do. I dont want to scare him with irrational fears of guns, but he needs to know how that they are dangerous.

-- Gary in Ohio (gws@columbus.rr.com), February 27, 2002.

Wow... guns and condoms in the same post.

Ken

-- Ken in Maine (Kenjan@pivot.net), February 27, 2002.

Diane, maybe I read your post wrong, and if I did I apologize ahead of time. But it sounds to me like you are advocating no personal responsibility. I mean are you ALWAYS going to be looking over your childs shoulder to take the gun away or hand them a condom?!? I doubt it. For me, I believe you have to take personal responsibility, be diligent and teach and/or discipline the kids on ALL these things. Yes, I know you are not supposed to shoot into water Diane. I was relating a story that happened here. It is the only time that has happened around here in my lifetime.

-- Sher in se Iowa (riverdobbers@webtv.net), February 27, 2002.

Amy, I understand your concern, But if you have firearms around the homestead as most do, Its part of the training the children should receive in the proper handling of firearms. Most tools and machines around a homestead are dangerous when used improperly. Remainds me of a scare I got last summer. When to a country auction early before it started. They had some shotguns on a wagon, the people bringing them out were the relatives of the owner who was deceased. None knew anything about guns. I picked up the first shotgun and you ALWAYS check if its loaded, I racked the pump back and a shell flies out, safety was NOT on,further checking found two more shells. I've seen people pick up a firearm and pull the trigger. Still scares me to thing about it. Glad nobody was hurt in your caseand I hope you train your children in firearm safety Regards Bill in SE> Mich.

-- Bill in SE. Mich. (Billshsfrm@aol.com), February 27, 2002.

These kind of things can be very tramatic to us parents because part of our lives are at stake. I though, can only see this as an opportunity to reinforce the training that you have already instilled in your kids. (See kids, this is the kind of thing we have been talking about when we talk about safety). When I was a child gun safety was not taught per se but they were used daily just as the kitchen knife, and as such, no more intrigueing than the fork that accompanies it. I grew to be a competitive shooter with guns all over the house. My children were exposed to guns from infancy and thier complacency towards them leads me to believe that secrecy and avoidance of gun issues arround the home is tantamount to disaster. Use every opportunity to teach safety to your children whether its machinery or people who are the threat, it's our job as parents.

-- tim bovee (timbovee@aol.com), February 27, 2002.

Teach Teach!!! Teach your children about weapons!!! I would tell you my gun is in my closet, full loaded!! my kids know how to shoot, know where is the gun and the amo. They never had the curiosity to take the weapon, because they are very familiar with it, and they know that is not a toy. The children need to know about weapons, and the sooner the better. My grandfather, well his father was kill, when he was very small, and he used to go hunting when he was 11 years old, and well needless to say nothing happened to him, in our days is our right to have weapons, and I will tell you, the criminals will always have weapons, always. To make your children ignorants about weapons make them ignorant to many facts of life. Condons? well thats another topic. Ralph.

-- Ralph (rroces1@yahoo.com), February 27, 2002.

Teach your children to be responsible for their actions. Pray that they do. But you do have to realize that children will make mistakes. A mistake with a gun may not be one they have an chance to learn from. I was taught right from wrong by my parents and if my parents knew the crap I did as a teenager.......

Gun safety must be taught. Hopefully the parents of your children's friends are teaching their kids as diligently about the dangers as well. It only takes one idiot and I have not met a single teen that did not venture into the land of idiocy from time to time.

-- Diana (dvance4@juno.com), February 27, 2002.

WOW<, talk about birth control,, having your mom,, over your shoulder,, handing you a condom when the mood hits <<<<>>>>,,"but why does your mom have to be here too?" "Its ok,, shes got the condoms!"

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), February 27, 2002.

I did not mean to open this can of worms. We have rifles on our farm in a gun cabinet in the living room. We keep it there so no one would think they could get away with sneaking one out to play with it. They are not loaded. The ammo is also kept in the locked gun cabinet. We teach gun safety- my son (11) has a BB gun which he treats like a real gun. My point is that we have safety procedures in place for our guns. This gun- fully loaded with hollow points- was in an area that my 2,5,9,11 year old children go. It was butt down, pointing to the sky at kid level. Teach all you want - I can see a curious child playing with it. I might have when I was a kid. They would have known it was dangerous, they all watched him kill the pigs.

BUT- they might have played/explored it "carefully" and had an accident. Family guns they see and are exposed to everyday do not hold the same interest as a new gun that they just saw being shot. Amy

-- Amy Richards (amysgarden2@earthlink.net), February 27, 2002.

The more times you say DON'T to a child, the more they will want to do whatever it was you told them not to do. It is an unwritten law of nature.

Many children can be taught and then there are the rest. Guess we need to assume they are ALL the rest.

Talk to you later.

-- Bob in WI (bjwick@hotmail.com), February 27, 2002.

I think people are missing Amy's point here. NO ONE should just leave a loaded gun lying around, EVER. If you are not currently using the rifle, unload it, put your lock on it or block in it and wear it over your shoulder (I assume he was using it as part of the butchering process). That's why they make slings. Or he should have unloaded it and locked it in his vehicle. Duh.

And, just because her kids may know better doesn't mean that others' kids will too. If someone had gotten hurt on her property, Amy would be first sued, and she in turn would have to sue the butcher.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), February 27, 2002.