Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Re: Guns and kids

[Diana Carroll (dianac]

>> Many people leave their homes unlocked in coho neighborhoods. With kids
>> entering places - not necessarily when anyone is there, and with their
>> insatiable curiosity - having guns doesn't seem safe to me.  Even 
>> people
>> who are perfectly intelligent and logical, could forget to lock a 
>> cabinet
>> which has guns in it; forget to put the gun in a place which is
>> sufficiently out of the way; forget to lock the safety mechanism on the
>> gun...  Forgetting  is a  simple, normal, human thing - and indeed very
>> many people in this country die/get injured in gun accidents.
>
>Hear, hear!  I just heard a story at a coho meeting today of one of our 
>  little girls that was caught going into her mom's jewelry drawer to 
>show her friends - two other little girls - in a place that she was 
>forbidden to go.  She lied to her mom to cover up that she had 
>disobeyed the rules.  what if there had been a gun in there?

What if there had been something else dangerous
in there?

I don't understand why this total focus on gun
safety and kids, without a proportionate focus on
other dangerous things.  Statistically, many more
kids die from household chemicals (such as 
prescription and OTC medications!) than from guns.
But I don't hear people calling for a ban on
household chemicals and meds, or even for(much
more sensible, IMO) chemical lock-up boxes.  

This isn't just sophistry -- I'm actually much more
concerned about that danger than gun danger.  When
my kids became toddlers, I emptied almost all of
the not-totally-essential medication down the toilet.

If kids are going to be wandering randomly in to
other folks' homes in a co-housing development,
then I think all household dangers should be
addressed equally, or relative to their statistical
danger. 

Peace,
D!

[obintro: Diana Carroll, associate and possibly future
member of Mosaic Commons]                 
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