Education is the best and most reliable and accessable when necessary "gun safe" of all. At 5yrs old, I was shown where the loaded gun was and how to use it. Never a problem. I never once touched it but I knew I could IF I asked. I never did ask. Take away the mystry and the curiosity dies.
+ 1000. start with a pellet gun, or even an airsoft gun. you can shoot an airsoft gun in the house or yard into a cereal box with some newspaper in it. learn to respect the weapon, and be concerned for everyone else's safety is key. a small .22 is also an excellent tool to teach them safety, and marksmanship. i have been really busy this year helping friends become familiar with firearms, an alarming number of people i know have been coming to me asking for help because they are afraid for their family and property, and want to have something to fall back on. i hope it does not come down to that, as it takes time and training to be able to defend yourself, as opposed to punching paper targets. anyway, a quality pellet rifle can take the place of a .22, and you can shoot it in most neighborhoods, taking care to be safe with it. it will depend on the age of the children, and where you live as far as an apartment versus suburb. now that i have said all of that, i cannot stress enough how i would NOT buy a handgun for defense of your home. i would buy a quality shotgun instead. a pump shotgun will be too heavy and unwieldy for a small child to handle or operate. they should still be taught to leave it alone, but they wont be able to cycle or shoot it. there are locks available that can be put on the shotgun, but i would still stress education rather than child locks. unless you and your wife are going to train with a handgun, with the mindset you may have to kill someone with it to defend your home, i strongly suggest you get a shotgun instead. the adrenaline and stress yo will be under, simply because someone has threatened you to this point of having to use a weapon will make a handgun very hard to use. the sight and sound of a shotgun may help to ward off some threats that dont want to be on the bad side of a 12 gauge. #7 or #8 pellets are great for indoors, and will not endanger family members and neighbors. like slugs and buckshot. there are places to find the best loads for defence, and minimize the danger of hurting others and damaging property. bear in mind, a firearm is the absolute last line of defense, but its better to have it and never need it, than to end up dead in hard times.
If you have children and guns you need one of these. It is the only way to keep them apart. I have several firearms, and I have a safe for them. Image Unavailable, Please Login
An anti-gun advocate I take it? It's that 0.1% that counts ... guns are like insurance, they're always a waste unless/until you need it...
if you shoot their dog in front of them it scares the **** out of them. worked for me! Image Unavailable, Please Login
Anti-gun advocate; NO I love target shooting, and I'm not a hunter. I just don't think that a majority of the population needs a 'killing weapon' for protection. If one is a criminal involved in illegal activities, then maybe a weapon for protection is necessary.
Get a Katana sword! I think "Best Child Proof Handgun" is little oxymoron don't you think? But if you want a gun for home protection, I say go for the shotgun.
I leave my 3 handguns in a quick-access safe (the type mentioned earlier, finger grooves + electronic keypad) But more important than that is the fact that I do not leave a round in the chamber. Magazine is full, but empty chamber. By the time my son is strong enough to actually operate the slide on my .45, .40, and 10mm - he'll have had a ton of firearm training and will understand how and when they should be handled. Leave the chamber empty and there is very little danger of any child under the age 8 hurting themself with the exception of dropping it on their foot. Bill
And if the intruder has a firearm you just brought a knife to a gunfight. And a shotgun will just make bigger holes in the walls and possibly harm those you don't want harmed. Education, take them to fire the gun, if they are young the noise will most likely scare them away from it and keep it locked up when the kids are not being supervised.
I am sorry, but is very poor advice, except for the revolver part. For over 20 years I had dealings with firearms everyday as part of my job. During a high stress life or death situation I agree a revolver is a very good choice. Learn how to use it well, aim, and pull the trigger period. BUT during these life or death situations you are not shooting to wound, scare or kill a person. You are shooting to STOP them as QUICKLY as possible. The faster they are stopped the more chance you have of them not killing or hurting you or a family member and while I would not want to be on the receiving end of any shotgun I cant think of a poorer choice of "manstopper" than a 410 with bird shot.I would say that with a load like this you would stand a good chance of really pissing the bad guy off, esp if they are drunk, crazy, or high. Also 410s do not just by their nature of being 410s spread out more than other calibers. A shot pattern depends on the "choke" the shotgun has. Another total midconception about shotguns is that the shot pattern spreads out so much that you just "cant miss" Nothing could be further from yhe truth. If a 410 really did spread out as much as people think and you did hit the bad guy you would then be hittimg them with only a couple of pellets.Not what I would want to count on to save my life. With out proper training and use ive seen many a person miss with 12 ga let alone 410s. An excellent home defense weapon would be a 12ga loaded with 00 buck. 00 buck has the power you would need but is not prone to over penetration because the pellets are soft lead. The round has 9 pellets of apx 32 cal each. Another good choice would be go back to the revolver in a large slow moving cal. like 44 special (NO NOT MAGNUM) The round would be an effective man stopper with not to much velocity keeping down the problem of over penetration. Also due to its low velocity the cal has low recoil making it easy to control. keeping the muzzle down will keep you on target for a 2nd or 3ed shot should it be ness. Lastly I agree 100%, allowing the children to see the firearm with proper supervision as I have done with mine takes away all the " i gotta see it attitude " they will develop if it is always hidden from them. My children were allowed to see it from an early age and were told if they want to see it again all they have to do is ask but after the first time they never asked again. It seems thy could care less. I have also let them see what a firearm can do and explained to them many times THIS IS NOT A PENCIL, IT DOES NOT COME WITH AN ERASER AND YOU CAN NOT!!!!!!!! TAKE BACK A MISTAKE.
Just a question; how many here have ever actually had to use a weapon to protect themselves from a home intruder/s?
I disagree with this. A shotgun round (not slugs, obviously) has less of a chance to pass through walls and hit unintended targets than a single projectile from a pistol or rifle.
This seems like absolutely terrible advice. You should educate without trying to instill paranoia in a child.
