kallend 2,026
QuoteI have yet to meet someone who went to PRISON for a minor possession of a controlled substance. And even if they were sending hordes of dopers to prison, I doubt they would make room for them by releasing violent criminals.
My husband is a TX Correctional Officer.I can confirm that there ARE inmates in TDC custody for drug possession.We have friends who work at a unit with mostly drug offenders.My husband on the other hand, works at the unit with the majority of inmates being sex offenders and violent gangs.
I was also taught at a young age to respect guns.When my father would clean his guns he would have me bring them from his gun cabinet to his cleaning area to get me used to being around/handling firearms and always told me that EVERY gun should always be considered loaded (non of his were ever loaded when he let me bring them to be cleaned but I still treated them as if they were).I was taught to clear and safety loaded weapons and also how to load and safety an unloaded weapon.When we'd go fishing he'd take a gun to kill snakes and varmits and such and after doing so he'd show me what had been killed,not to gross me out or to 'traumatize'me but so that I understood first-hand that guns hurt and kill and that is why they must be respected.I NEVER touched his guns without his permission or in his presence...same goes for anyone else's firearms.(relative etc).If I found a gun I was to leave it alone and find an adult.period. The gun cabinet was locked,but I knew where the key was.I also knew that the only loaded weapon in the house was in a drawer in my parents bedroom.I respected them,never played with them and therefore it was never an issue in our house.I also had the school DARE program that said what to do if you found a gun etc. but that was just reinforcing what my dad had already taught me.To this day I dont touch my dad's gun w/o his permission eventhough I'm 24 and hes told me plenty of times I can use any of them to go hunting whenever I want.I only use them when hes there with me.
At my own home I keep 2 loaded .45s on my nightstand.My husband keeps a .45 and a shotgun on his side of the bed.We have one other gun downstairs.Everything else is in a gunsafe unless we're going to the gunrange.But we do not have childern,do not plan on having children and non of our friends bring their children here.If someone comes to visit (like my mom who doesnt care for guns) then we will put all the guns in the safe until they leave.
The way I learned about guns in a practical hands-on manner reminds me of the way I leared about cigarettes/smoking and that it wasnt healthy.When I was very young,my grandfather was a heavy smoker.When I started playing around with those candy cigarettes (remember those anyone?) imitaging him he pulled me aside.He took a thin paper napkin and held it up between his hands,took a deep drag from his cigarette and then blew the smoke through the napkin.I was shocked to see a nasty brown stain left behind. He then gently told me that because he smoked,his lungs looked like that napkin,nasty and brown.What was once clean was now stained and not as healthy as the white napkin/non-smoking lungs.With that he urged me not to ever take up smoking and remember what he'd shown me.I'm 24 now and my grandfather passed away in 2001,but I still remember that lesson.
So anyway,I just believe you should be practical and teach kids to respect firearms..not fear them.My family taught me much and we never had a problem because we were informed...we didnt need gunlocks because we had knowledge and understanding of weponry and safety.
"...just an earthbound misfit, I."
JohnRich 4
Another story of a kid in a home with a gun:
Baby sitter kills black bearFull Story
"A northern Idaho baby sitter shot and killed a 422-pound black bear that broke into a backyard where three toddlers were playing..."
Sounds dreadful. Why don't you move to a safer neighborhood?
Coming to Chicago then.
The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.