Would you let your kid touch a machine gun?

SOURCE: FOX NEWS -

Photos of officers from the Santa Rosa Police Department letting kids handle the department’s SWAT team weaponry at a community event has sparked a debate over how much exposure to guns is healthy for kids.

Community organizer Attila Nagy, who took the photos, told FoxNews.com that he was concerned it might encourage kids to use guns in the future.

“My main concern is for kids who handle these things. They’re fascinated by them, and it makes them familiar with guns,” he said.

One city councilwoman, Marsha Vas Dupre, told her local paper that she was “alarmed and devastated” by the photos.

But the police department is pushing back, saying they see nothing wrong with how they handled the event.

“The weapons are rendered safe and are unloaded. We ensure the safety of those weapons,” Santa Rosa Police Capt. Gary Negri told FoxNews.com, adding that the police attend the event to build ties between the police and the community.

“Our goal is saying to people, ‘hey, don’t be intimidated by the police.’ We want to break down that barrier… Once these events are over, people will be more comfortable having conversations with officers.”

Another goal, Negri said, was to educate kids about guns.

“Education and gun safety is a component of what we do… We teach kids the difference between a real gun and a Toys R’ Us gun.”

But the department’s response hasn’t convinced everyone. One woman, Elaine Holtz, was so concerned by the SWAT team’s weapons that she approached the police officer at the community event and asked what was going on.

“I would not want my child to be involved with something like that… Those guns, they should have been behind glass — to teach the kids that you don’t want to deal with this gun, because it kills.” Holtz told FoxNews.com.

“I am coming from the heart of a woman, a mother, a grandmother,” she added.

Despite the complaints, some gun safety experts say the police are right — and that data shows kids who grow up with legal guns are actually less likely to get into trouble.

“A U.S. Department of Justice study showed that children introduced to firearms by their fathers had a lower rate of delinquency than children who learned about guns on the street, or even children who had no experience with guns at all,” Dr. Tim Wheeling, of the group Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership, told FoxNews.com.

The 1994 Justice Department report concluded: “Boys who own legal firearms… are even slightly less delinquent than nonowners of guns.” Specifically, 14 percent of kids with legal firearms committed street crimes, compared to 24 percent of kids with no guns at home.

Given that, Wheeling said, the response to the police actions seemed overblown.

“If this controlled lesson in firearms helped the kids understand that guns are not toys, some good could come from it. The knee-jerk rejection to the police outreach by locals was clearly excessive.”

The pro-gun control Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence declined to comment.

Whether the police event actually helped the kids understand that guns are not toys is a matter of debate.

“It wasn’t a safety thing,” Nagy said, contesting the police version of the story. “That’s misinformation. I was there. The gun was displayed, and kids just picked it up and played with it.”

Nagy cited his photos as evidence.

“In one of the photos I took, as Elaine Holtz was talking with the officer, you can see a little boy is reaching up to the table and grabbing a gun… the youngest kid there was maybe 5 years old.”

Holtz said that when she asked the officer what was going on, he replied that they were doing “training,” but that she did not find his answer convincing.

“I did not see any education going on; it looked like it was just fun,” she said. “And I think we generally have a good police department. But what happened here was poorly thought out.”

Police Capt. Negri said that the department is looking at “whether we want to change our tack in the future.” But for now, the police are sticking to their guns.

“Gun safety is a part of the discussions we have with the kids,” Negri said. “These kids, what do they learn about guns from video games, movies and TV? A lot of the questions we get from kids are way off base… So it’s helpful to have some realistic dialogue.”

Source: American DerringerFor as long as there have been firearms, there has been the need to protect and educate our children when it comes to safe use and storage. One of the biggest problems we have today is that there is not enough firearms safety training for children. Here at American Derringer Corp., we are as concerned about your children and their safety as you are. Here are some basic rules and suggestions for making your home a safe environment for both children and your firearms.

• Don’t try to hide a gun in the house, thinking that the child will never find it. They will. Children have the ability to find anything adults can hide. And, the better something is hidden, the harder the child will look for it, and the more importance it will have to the child once it is found.
• Avoid attaching any mystique to the firearm through flat prohibition. Nothing gets a child’s attention faster or stronger than being told “No,” without explanation or reasoning. Children are smart, and will see through flat prohibition.
• If you carry a firearm on a daily basis, be sure to secure it when you get home. Make sure that your child knows you do this, and why.
• Teach your children these basic firearms safety rules:
  • Always assume that a gun is loaded, even after you have personally unloaded it.
  • Never point a firearm at another person. Never point a firearm in the direction of anything except a proper target at a range or while hunting.
  • Never handle a firearm unnecessarily.
  • Never accept a firearm from another person unless they have shown it to be unloaded in front of you. Never assume.
  • Always verify the unloaded condition of a firearm.
  • Never throw, drop, or otherwise mishandle a firearm.
  • When encountering a strange gun (say laying on the street), do not pick it up. Contact an adult (preferably a law enforcement officer) as soon as possible. When possible, keep other children away from the gun. Do not make any assumptions about a “found” weapon.”
  • When firing at a range, always keep the gun pointed down range, towards the targets.
  • A firearm is not a toy. Do not treat it like one.
  • Do not show off firearms to friends and schoolmates. And, do not tell friends and schoolmates that there are firearms in the house. Do not take a firearm from its place without a parent present.
  • Always use proper ear and eye protection when at the range.
  • A firearm is not a status symbol, or indicator of strength. Do not use it as one.
  • Whenever you are in doubt about a firearm, do not touch it. Get an adult to check it for you.
  • Remember, it is our right to keep and bear arms, but it also our responsibility to do so safely.
    It only takes one little mistake to cause a big accident.
  • Let them know that firearms are capable of bodily injury, destruction and possibly death if misused. Do not “soft-soap” the truth. Apply the same principles as Driver’s Education courses in the schools do.
• Start your children off right by showing them the ropes about guns. This includes showing them the proper procedures for unloading, verifying and handling a firearm. Where available, a certified instructor should be used to teach proper shooting and safety technique.
• Make sure to show your children how to clean and care for a firearm. A dirty, or abused gun is more dangerous than any other.
• Encourage your children to learn these safety rules, and to follow them. One method that helps is to take them to the range (once they are old enough to handle a firearm) and let them shoot. Another method is to use airguns in early training and safety education. This will not only further strengthen the other lessons, but will also serve to remove the mystique that has been put up around firearms. It is this mystique that leads to most firearms accidents today.
• Remember, nothing is as good as education, and open, honest discussion.
• When there are many children visiting, secure your firearms in a proper lock-box, safe, or unreachable location that you can monitor. Keep all spare ammo separate from the guns.
• If you’re child is alone in the house regularly, consider getting a small safe or lockbox to keep your firearms in when you are not there.
• Be sure to follow all of the rules you set for your children. If you violate any of them, the child will feel comfortable in following your example.