Explaining CCDW to kids

[westkybanded]

It's going to happen eventually.

"What have you got that gun in your pocket for?"

My son is just starting to pay attention to the fact that I carry. How have you explained it to your kids? I just told him it was just in case I ever needed it for anything, and it wasn't something we talked about in public.

 

[CajunBass]

Sounds about right to me.

 

[BarbC]

Everyone my kids have ever known when they were growing up carried a gun, even Grandma & Grandpa. It was no more unusual or unexpected to them than the fact that it was the adults who drove the car and bought the groceries. It was simply another adult responsibility.

 

[bnkrtstk]

I thought my daughter had no idea I carried, I was wrong. While she knew I owned guns, and hunted. We were having a problem with groundhogs at our old house and I took out a few with my .22 rifle. One night we were getting in the truck to go to the ball field and there was a groundhog poking it's head out from under the shed. My then 9yo daughter says "shoot it" so I asked "with what?" She says "the black gun you carry, the one mommy hates, you clock" . I then explained why I carry to protect to our family from people that might want to hurt us, and it is nobody's business but ours and she was fine with it. She is now 11.5yo and is my shootimg buddy, and took her first whitetail last winter.

 

[M29since14]

Just tell them normal people carry guns (i.e., take responsibility for their own safety) and it's the people who don't who are odd. (And that those who want to take them away from us are even odder. )

If your son has grown up around you and guns, he probably doesn't give it much thought. I think you told him the right stuff.

As he gets a little older, you can mention that as the Dad, it is your "duty" to look out for the safety of his mother and him, and that some day he will make choices about how he looks out for his family. It will give him something to think about.

I wouldn't worry too much about your son thinking it is bad to have a gun handy. You can point out that policemen have been known to carry guns, and their right to self-defense is the same as yours/his. There are a lot of perfectly logical ways to explain it.

 

[hurley]

find a 22 that fits their hands and start shooting together