The Sneads, the couple who took in the Parkland shooter has now officially came out and said they regret giving their orphaned adopted son an AR-15 and allowed him to keep it in his bedroom.
But this is all due to the lawsuits they might be facing so in order to not get sued they apologized and they can’t talk about what happened or make any money off of it just like the mother of the columbine shooter.
Now imagine raising your kids, showing them gun safety that they need to respect these guns, you take them out shooting, give them their first .22, eventually as a gift you give them an AR-15, my question is.
What are you going to do to prevent them from committing a mass shooting?
It’s a hard thought to think about, and if your child does potentially cause a mass shooting you’re looking for into a lot of trouble.
I don’t have children, but if it were me, and I gifted my son/daughter a firearm, it stays in my safe until we go to the range or hunting. Same with ammunition. I will probably hear something like “what if someone breaks into the house when only they are home?”… escape and evade fam… There is nothing in my house that would be worth my child risking their life to defend.
I struggle with this question every day. I am not there yet, but I have two sons, one that is 4 years old and one that is 21 months old. Both have already shown much interest in dad’s shooting hobbies. I am going to resist going off on a tangent and just leave that there. My boys are going to be shooters and we have already started the lessons on gun safety among other things. That said, each and every gun is locked up, either in one of the Liberty Colonial 50’s or one of the biometrics. The one exception is the one on my body. But I also know how I was raised and my friends were raised. When I was growing up, there was not a single locked gun in my house, my grandpa’s house, or most of my friend’s house. My first exposure to the concept of a gun safe was my best friend who’s dad had an FFL for himself and friends, back before the ATF really cracked down on the number of FFL’s out there and tried to tie them to businesses. Heck, back then, they advertised home FFL kits in the Shotgun News for those of you who remember that publication in its original form. I also read about writers and hunters such as Finn Aagaard who gave his son a .270 and allowed him to keep it in his room as a symbol of trust and responsibility. Ok, back on topic. Unfortunately, those days are gone. There is no way one can justify doing that in today’s day and age. And its not just about your kid or my son(s). Its about their friends who have questionable educations about firearms and firearms safety. Its about current laws. For instance, Michigan has a law on the books that states to the effect that if a member of the house is able to get a firearm that is improperly stored and commit a crime with it, then you are liable criminally for the improperly stored firearm.
I wish I could do something like Finn did when and if I felt my boys were ready for that responsibility, but that age has passed. There is some good and some bad with the passing of that age.
When they turn 18 or 21, depending upon the jurisdiction, take them to the gun shop and let them fill out the paperwork while mom and dad pay the bill at the cash register. (Assuming you have the confidence that they are responsible enough)
Before this it’s just too risky in today’s age. Even if you didn’t raise a mass murderer the consequences of even a legitimate accident are just to high to give a gun to an unsupervised minor.
After they have bought their first gun I would feel comfortable giving them all, or part, of their inheritance. If any thing bad ever did happen at least your legal defense could point to the fact that they had already been cleared and purchased their own firearm.
I am sorry, but you need to get your facts from sources other than the Sneeds themselves.
They took in The Maniac after his mother died. He was 17 or 18 then, and he was an accomplished psycho, known well and wide. In fact, he put a gun to the head of the Sneeds’ own son - and he was still allowed to keep his weapons an live in their house. Which normal parent would not take his toys from him and throw them in a canal, and throw The Maniac out of the house? They fed him, clothed him, enabled him right up to the point of the massacre.
Were they misguided? Maybe. Maybe it was the $800K inheritance that The Maniac and his similarly crazed brother were about to receive. I bet on the latter, but that’s my personal cynical opinion. I see merit to whatever lawsuits coming to hit the Sneeds, they knew his sickness, they are culpable.
Trying not to Monday Morning QB here, but here goes:
It’s laughable that the Sneads are packaging this as responsible gun training gone bad. Mr. Cruz had over a decade of very public red flags, and warnings from his previous caretakers of violent behavior. Adults are supposed to make adult decisions. They did not.
In my state, NC, for all intents and purposes one cannot purchase or conceal-carry a firearm until they reach 21 years of age. I taught my children gun safety. I took them shooting. But I never allowed them to keep a fire arm, period. In addition, I was fortunate that my kids were squeaky-clean, good grades, etc. Within my four walls, the second-amendment wasn’t a right to my teenagers, it was a privilege. Maybe I’m over-simplifying, but if you want to prevent your kids from committing a mass shooting, spend time with your kids and know them, and make adult decisions. Kid’s don’t “suddenly” snap.
What about their lives? My daughter was rarely alone as a teenager in our home. At 17 she decided to stay home, instead of go away on vacation with us. I gave her the .22 I knew she could shoot well to keep in her room while we were away. My neighborhood is quite safe, but if anyone, knowing that she was alone, decided to try something, I wanted to be sure she had the ability to defend herself the best way possible.
She started shooting at 8 years old when she decided she wanted to learn. Well before then, she knew firearm safety, how to breakdown my firearms, check them and make them safe. I always kept an eye on her while shooting, but early on, I trusted her ability to be safe. At 17, I had no concern of her improperly handling the firearm I gave her. I just went over the safety rules and told her to not let anyone, even a close friend, know she had it in her room, and the obvious, get away, if possible.
You were relating a hypothetical situation to what happened in Parkland. I wanted to make sure there is no misunderstanding - this goes so far beyond normal parenting challenges, that it renders the hypothetical scenario somewhat moot… Heavens forbid, someone has a child like this? Got to commit them in a secure institution.
Actually I am very careful about giving firearms to my children (adult 21+). I have no problem getting them a giftcard towards that end, even going with them to the store to buy, but they go through the background check and it is in their name. What I will not do is buy it and give it to them directly (I have no problem doing this for my wife.) Too many “what ifs” now. What if they have a girlfriend that takes the gun and uses it? What if they sell it to the wrong person if they need cash? What if they don’t exercise restraint in self defense when they need to? All of a sudden I may be part of something that causes me a lot of pain and anguish and not in a position to help them. Firearms and Self Defense are a personal decision. Yes, I want my kids to be safe, they can decide better for themselves and join the USCCA on their own, or I would be happy to gift them a membership.
If I had kids, I wouldn’t want them to have to deal with death like that and have to live with it…wether it be accident or defense. If an armed person enters your home, there is a possibility that you will get shot unless you are out before they find you. I am not afraid to die and I am not afraid to do what I have to if violence and/or death is forced apon me or my family… can your daughter say the same? Being safe and proficient with a firearm doesn’t make you prepared, if you aren’t ready mentally.
What is it about a firearm that causes people to lose all ability to think rationally.
If someone breaks into my vehicle steals a tire iron and later kills someone with it I am not liable for the thief’s actions.
If someone steals a baseball bat from a little league ballgame and uses it to rob someone are one of the ball teams responsible?
I am not saying as gun owners that we don’t have a responsibility to secure any and all weapons as best we can but that a gun is simply a tool, an inanimate object. Does it have destructive power, absolutely but so does the can of gas in your garage so does the vehicle setting in your driveway.
True, but I wouldn’t take the ability from my child to defend him/herself when I am not around, especially not an older teen. There are innumerable stories of children from young to adult defending themselves and family. That shows they understand and are capable.
I agree that it’s a little different with older children. She is almost old enough to purchase her own firearms and join the military. I have said before, but what’s one more time… if you are old enough to join the military, you’re old enough to own and carry firearms. Whatever your stance is it’s your choice, and for you it is the right one. But, in mind, they understand and are capable, but what toll does that weight take on them later? Maybe when/if I have children they will learn escape, the use of OC spray, and (if within contact range) kicking some burglar straight in the junk after you spray them. From the outside looking in, at the moment, that seems like the best plan for me. In the end, it’s up to the family to decide what is best for that particular family. Not to say I won’t teach them about firearms, firearm safety, and how to efficiently use them, but they might have some OC spray for a while.
Surviving, instead of dying? I would want that choice, and it was her choice, too. I gave her the firearm. She didn’t have to take it, and if and when the time came, it would still have been her choice to use it or not.
This is true, but self-defense does not mean that someone must die. Neither does it even mean a shot is fired. Most self-defense does not even involve a shot being fired.
How long do you intend to pull this thread from it’s original intent? I don’t think the op appreciates his thread being highjacked. If you want to continue to argue, you should start your own thread or pm me. Whichever you prefer.
Telling me that I am arguing and to stop is not respectful. I disagreed with only your one point about firearms and children. I was raised with firearms in the home and learned very young firearm safety and how to shoot. Children are capable of properly using firearms.
There are many stories of children using firearms to defend self and family. Yes, anyone can suffer mentally from a high tension event, adults and children. But is being a victim a better option? To me, it is not.
I have a child and I want her to be able to protect herself as well as she is able. If I did not feel that she would properly handle the firearm, I would not have given it to her. I would have felt worse if something bad happened and I denied her the ability to defend herself as best she could. As you stated, this is a personal decision. I gave her a firearm, that was my decision. She took it, that was her decision. You feel otherwise, that is your decision.