firearms on the homestead?

**QuilterMom** · 02-16-2005, 09:25 AM

Just curious what the homesteaders here have and why.

Also, do you have kids (and what are their ages)? Where do you keep your firearms to keep them away from your young children?

We have a snake issue (water moccasin) and our vet suggested having a rifle on hand because of where we live (coral snakes, water moccasins, variety of rattlers).

**slowtypinwoman** · 02-16-2005, 09:46 AM

We have a shotgun. We had chickens and on occation we would have a coon or possum get in the barn and get one or two. We kept the 410 to take care of them. Alex is 10 but has never shown an interest in the shotgun. it is well put up and NEVER loaded.

**jlxian** · 02-16-2005, 09:53 AM

We have several guns -- pistol, shotgun, rifles. They are kept in a locked area. And the children are well educated about the dangers of guns.

**paelthom** · 02-16-2005, 09:55 AM

We have several. They are put way out of reach of any small child and are not loaded. DD is 11 and has never even seen them. They are necessary because of how far out we live, wild animals and definately the snakes.

**mrscornbread** · 02-16-2005, 09:55 AM

I do not have any firearms here in the house. I onve saw something on Oprah that was about guns and how many of them are used against the homeowner if you are not properly trained or really able to shoot it if you were pressed in a situation, I don't think I could.

Instead, I have a bat like thing that once belonged to my dad, my brother says that it is used to check the air in the tires for a truck or motorhome. I could definately hit someone upside the head. I dont have an animal issue, so any weapon here in the city would definately be used against another human

ssn01 · 02-16-2005, 10:02 AM

My family and myself do not approve of guns.
I know how to use one, grew up on a semi-farm, had to shoot (for target practice) in case it ever came in handy.
I'm not licensed by any means... but but a shotgun or even a semi-auto in my hand I can shoot - if necessary... (plus playing Duck Hunt on Nintendo yrs ago helped!)

However, yes, I've a child in the house.
BUT...
My s/o & I have our collection knives (hidden!), I've mace and he's a tazer. There are enough kitchen knives, baseball bats, bowling balls & other "make-shift" weapons if necessary.
It'd be a poor soul who'd walk in our house w/out permission!

**guest2** · 02-16-2005, 10:02 AM

We have my husband's gun and several teen friends guns in our home (we keep the teens guns here since they have much younger siblings in their home and we are afraid of the younger ones getting ahold of them). The ammo is stored seperately from the guns (in fact the teens ammo is kept at their home) and the guns are always stored unloaded. The guns are all used for hunting.

**MarshHen** · 02-16-2005, 11:59 AM

We have a locked gun cabinet in our bedroom which contains several shotguns, rifle's and a few handguns. The key is hidden in a secure place and only hubby and myself knows the location. Since we live so far out, we do have a problem with snakes, possum and wild boar. Since hubby works night shift, I can't tell you how many times I have had to go out in the middle of a rainy night and shoot a possum trying to snatch a chicken from the roost. Our next chicken yard and roost will be possum and snake proof for sure.

Hubby hunts deer in season and we both squirrel hunt in season.

**Katybird** · 02-16-2005, 12:23 PM

Our children are all grown so we do keep guns in the house now. We keep a 20/20 rifle that we keep for snakes around the house and DH has a deer rifle for deer season.

**Missy** · 02-16-2005, 12:41 PM

As a teen I shot for competition, iron targets and paper as well. I am pretty secure with a gun. However, dh is not nearly responsible enough (and I don't mean that in a bad way, he simply was rasised with a guns are for play mentality) for us to have one in the house. So, there's no guns here, i don't feel it would be safe for us.

**baxjul** · 02-16-2005, 03:13 PM

We have alot of guns, rifles, pistols, handguns, etc... All are unloaded with ammo stored seperately. We have one dd who is 4. She can recite all of the dangers of guns. DH and I both grew up with loaded guns sitting in every corner, so we have been teaching her. She says guns are only for Mommy and Daddy. Still, we keep them locked up.

**Darlene** · 02-16-2005, 04:07 PM

Yep, shotgun, rifles,muzzleloader, pellet,bb. We have them for target practice,home protection, wildlife control. (dh once had to shoot a coyote attacking a deer in our front yard!) Our kids are older & grew up knowing about, respecting & shooting guns all with our blessing & direction.
Ammo is not stored right near guns although our home defense gun and ammo are very near one another.
I like shooting clay targets

**DaisyLady** · 02-16-2005, 07:17 PM

We have no need for guns since we don't hunt so we don't have any in the house. However, if we lived somewhere where we needed them we would keep them (locked up of course). DS#2 is learning to shoot in Cadets.

My grandad always had guns in the house when I was a kid. We lived with him for a while. He never locked up the guns but he did lock up the ammo. We never even thought about touching them!

**Mom23boys** · 02-16-2005, 09:16 PM

We have 2 rifles and one pistol. The rifles are used for hunting and the pistol was DH's father's gun. It was one of the few things he got when he passed. They are all locked in a gun cabinet unloaded. The ammo is also locked, but in a separate cabinet.