Family Meeting

[ohhrico1969]

Wow! Just had a family meeting with my wife and two daughters. My oldest is 19 and my youngest is 11. We discussed emergency scenarios, if someone where to break in or we were a victim of home invasions etc.. what to do. We agreed on a safe word and where to go etc. What blew my mind what the initiatives my daughters rook in asking; what about when we are home alone upstairs and someone breaks in downstairs? My oldest has expressed and interest in learning to shoot since I taught my wife and now my wife has the "bug" and wants her CHL, but we haven't taken her to the range yet. She asked if it would be a good idea to have a gun upstairs. My wife and I were kind of surprised but hesitant about that. The stairway leading up to their bedrooms and the game room has walls on either side. I was thinking maybe teaching her to use a shotgun and shooting anything that comes up the stairs while her younger sister is on the phone with the cops. My wife asked about an AR platform rifle that would be easier/faster to load, have more ammo and less recoil. So I just got online and was looking at some handgun ammunition platforms, ones that maybe fire 9mm rounds. Of course this would require more accuracy but would allow her to pie cut around the wall to see a clear shot of the stairwell. I dunno! I'm kind of flustered, excited, nervous about having anything up stairs with her put they made some valid points about being home alone and needing to protect themselves. My youngest was all "I'll be in charge of calling 911 and telling them what is going on and sissy (thats what she calls her sister) will be in charge of making sure they can't come up the stairs to get us!"

You guys/gals have any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[RetArmySgt]

20Ga with 00 Buck she can clear a stairwell with that and not as much recoil as a 12Ga

 

[Texas42]

My only thoughts are get them shooting and keep them shooting.

Good luck.

 

[Buckles]

if you are looking for something with a pistol ammo platform, the keltec sub2000 is pretty cool. 9mm that uses glock mags. i would def start teaching them all how to shoot though.

 

[cougartex]

Every family should have this type of discussion.

 

[TheDan]

That's great to hear your family takes things like that seriously. As for having a gun easily accessible for the kids? I trust my daughter, but not her friends. No telling how they were raised or what stupid teenager thing they'd try to pull. If it weren't for the fact that she has friends over all the time I'd have a shotgun rack next to the stairs. For now the guns stay locked in my room.

 

[TheDan]

I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier... Secretly fondling a gun that's stashed out of view is tempting to a kid, but having to break glass to get to one in plain sight is not. I'm going to put a few of these around the house, lol...

 

[txinvestigator]

You guys/gals have any thoughts or suggestions?

Congratulations for being forward thinking. I have two suggestions;

Practice your plans in slow time

Drill at 0300.

So as not to hijack, here is a post I made a couple of years ago on another forum. The events are true; http://www.texasguntalk.com/forums/...n-antonio-real-estate/14264-intruder-4am.html

 

[navyguy]

What TE said. Good stuff. My own recommendations are no one touches a gun until they've been throughly check out on it, and can shoot it. load it, clear it and unload it. Without thinking. Not saying you think differently, just reiterating a point that is sometimes ignored.

For a 19 year old gal that is of average hight/weight, a 20Ga shouldn't be a problem recoil wise. I would stay away from and AR or such because they are just a bit more complected and then there is the penetration thing. A nice 870 20 ga, with an IC slug barrel and some oo or 000 buck shot would fill the bill. More lethal combos arouund? sure, but they have to be safe and able to preform with it.

 

[txinvestigator]

What TE said. Good stuff. My own recommendations are no one touches a gun until they've been throughly check out on it, and can shoot it. load it, clear it and unload it. Without thinking. Not saying you think differently, just reiterating a point that is sometimes ignored.

For a 19 year old gal that is of average hight/weight, a 20Ga shouldn't be a problem recoil wise. I would stay away from and AR or such because they are just a bit more complected and then there is the penetration thing. A nice 870 20 ga, with an IC slug barrel and some oo or 000 buck shot would fill the bill. More lethal combos arouund? sure, but they have to be safe and able to preform with it.

Check out the website "the box o truth" for some interesting penetration results. The Box O' Truth - Ammo Penetration Testing

 

[navyguy]

Check out the website "the box o truth" for some interesting penetration results. The Box O' Truth - Ammo Penetration Testing

Yeah, I know that. but sometimes there are trade offs. At close range (10 - 15 Ft) I sure wouldn't want one in the nuts or the face.

 

[Texas42]

Yeah, I know that. but sometimes there are trade offs. At close range (10 - 15 Ft) I sure wouldn't want one in the nuts or the face.

Let me know what gun you would like to be shot at 15 feet. : P

I'd be less worried about 1 60 something grain expanding projectile penetration than buckshot, but hey, they are all gonna go through several walls.

 

[ROGER4314]

Just had a family meeting with my wife and two daughters. My oldest is 19 and my youngest is 11. We discussed emergency scenarios, if someone were to break in or we were a victim of home invasions etc.

+100 to you and your family! Parents teaching their children and instilling values in their kids made this country great!

When I was newly divorced, my son aged 4, visited me every other weekend. I have a small 25 ACP pistol and used it to train my young son in the safe handling of firearms. I taught him the basics of pistol shooting, watching his muzzle sweeps and that he was not to point the pistol at anything he did not intend to shoot. I did the same thing with a pocket knife. I ground the "sharps" and points off of a knife and gave it to him to carry while we were together. He was taught proper use and safety and to never run while the blade was open.

He learned those lessons well and retained the information from visit to visit. Did I trust him to obey the rules while unsupervised? Absolutely not! He was still a child and needed close supervision. The point is that even small children can be taught important safety lessons if properly trained and supervised.

Mike and I had another game that we played about safety. We had a whole dialog that went like this: "Little boy, are you lost? What is your name? Where do you live? Do you know your telephone number?" Of course, that was in 1973 and the world was a bit different then. The lesson would need to be modified, now. Again, the very young child was able to learn and apply basic safety and security training.

Kudos to you and your family! Get the kids involved and make them an integral part of home security.

Flash