We need an exorcism...
...at least that's how it feels with all the demonization going on by the anti-gunners. Here's their latest tactic. For those that won't follow the link, it's an "Ask" campaign funded by United Way. (Thanks to David Codrea for bringing my attention to this article.)
If you've seen NBC's The Less You Know campaign, you've seen this tactic. Encourage parents to ASK if there is a gun in the home where their child is visiting.
"What's wrong with that?" you ask. Well, inherently, there's nothing wrong with parents educating themselves about their children's whereabouts. I would call that sound parenting.
My beef is that this campaign is aimed at changing public opinion such that people start to think gun owners = irresponsible. Gun owners = dangerous. Homes with gun = unsafe. Guns = bad. Locked up gun = safe gun.
It's a bunch of crap. Unless your kid's visiting a crackhouse, they're actually safer visiting a *gasp* home with an unlocked gun! A crazy assertion? Not quite. People own guns for protection. And if your kid is in that house, they're going to fall into the category of "protected."
Sure, you have to educate your kids about guns. Satisfy their curiosity. Show them what a gun can do. (This is all subject matter for another post.) But demonization isn't the answer.
"Hi there. This is Mr. Smith. My daughter Suzy is coming over to your place after school. I, uh...I have to ask... Um. Well. This is awkward. Is there a gun in your house?"
"Yes."
"Ok, good."
If you've seen NBC's The Less You Know campaign, you've seen this tactic. Encourage parents to ASK if there is a gun in the home where their child is visiting.
"What's wrong with that?" you ask. Well, inherently, there's nothing wrong with parents educating themselves about their children's whereabouts. I would call that sound parenting.
My beef is that this campaign is aimed at changing public opinion such that people start to think gun owners = irresponsible. Gun owners = dangerous. Homes with gun = unsafe. Guns = bad. Locked up gun = safe gun.
It's a bunch of crap. Unless your kid's visiting a crackhouse, they're actually safer visiting a *gasp* home with an unlocked gun! A crazy assertion? Not quite. People own guns for protection. And if your kid is in that house, they're going to fall into the category of "protected."
Sure, you have to educate your kids about guns. Satisfy their curiosity. Show them what a gun can do. (This is all subject matter for another post.) But demonization isn't the answer.
"Hi there. This is Mr. Smith. My daughter Suzy is coming over to your place after school. I, uh...I have to ask... Um. Well. This is awkward. Is there a gun in your house?"
"Yes."
"Ok, good."
posted by M1Thumb at 12:02 PM
3 Comments:
"My beef is that this campaign is aimed at changing public opinion such that people start to think gun owners = irresponsible. Gun owners = dangerous. Homes with gun = unsafe. Guns = bad. Locked up gun = safe gun."
Could it not also be said "locked up gun owner = safe house?" Which as the stereotype goes, all gun owners are crazy, white males. So the more males we can remove from society the better, cuz all they do is oppress their poor wives and children anyway. I guess I sound a bit cynical and judgmental.
You might sound cynical, but you're right.
Do parents ever ask, "are there matches in your house?" No. Who in their right mind would? (This goes back to the ideas in the "Knife Control" anyone post.) Again the media is missing the point and picking the easy target to try and solve it. The real point is that you should always know if you are allowing your child to play in a well supervised, safe environment. Safe meaning you trust the adult that your child wont be playing with matches or knives or the outlets or doing crack or making out with their boyfriend; supervised so they wont fall into their harmful temptations whatever age they are.
The sad truth is that media just feeds the bad parents so they can keep lying to themselves claiming that they are great parents. Then they praise the media- which makes NBC think that they are impacting the nation- so they do another story about guns...
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