General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHow are these young people gaining access to guns?
And not just one or two but many guns and lots and lots of ammo.
Do they order them from the internet or do they find straw buyers? It doesn't seem like getting guns is much of a problem for them.
HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)...especially on the street. Straw buyers. Theft.
SevenSixtyTwo
(255 posts)Some are obtained through straw purchases and gun show loopholes but most are stolen from homes and cars as they're left for easy picking. I keep mine in a gun safe if they're not in my immediate possession and control. When we take them to the range, they're carried in an old guitar case so as to not catch the attention of neighborhood sticky fingers. I'm all in favor of holding original purchasers of firearms more accountable for the whereabouts of their firearms. We wouldn't leave a million bucks laying out on the nightstand while we're out for lunch because we know there's a chance someone might break in and easily pocket it. We should have the same concern with firearms.
SummerSnow
(12,608 posts)It's definitely not hard for them to get guns. But parents should more than vigilant to inspect their childrens' room from time to time, find out who they friends are and check the internet; Facebook accounts, twitter, etc. They may not like it but you got to do what you have to do. So many parents don't know whats going on with their children, but sometimes you think you do then something tragic happens. Children can be very cunning when it comes to hiding stuff from their parents even when the parents are alert.
Maedhros
(10,007 posts)Guns marketed to children?
?w=300
?w=364&h=232
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)Maedhros
(10,007 posts)And those children in those pictures are too young to be handling those weapons, in my opinion.
I grew up with firearms, and in my household one didn't get to carry weapons until age 12.
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)Jenoch
(7,720 posts)Lee-Lee
(6,324 posts)Or idiotic parents that leave them with access.
Or by breaking in to a parents safe/finding the key/learning the combination.
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)My first firearm was a new shotgun, given by my folks when I turned 13; the next one was a target revolver, given a few mos. later. But I had been instructed in the use of these and other weapons before I was 10. I don't think kids getting guns in this manner are the problem. The problem is with those people who turn psychopathic, have untreated serious mental illness, or who take to a life of crime, a small number of people.
KG
(28,749 posts)leftyladyfrommo
(18,816 posts)Do these parents just hand over large amounts of cash to these kids? Guns are not cheap.
I can see them stealing a gun from someone in the family but these kids have whole arsenals. I just can't understand how a parent could miss the fact that the kids have an AK47 or two in the closet.
Or how about bomb building in the garage?
I wonder if some of these parents are so afraid of these kids that they just let them do whatever they want.
What a mess.
Iggo
(47,487 posts)Throd
(7,208 posts)leftyladyfrommo
(18,816 posts)and we had a couple of rifles in the house. Our neighbors all had rifles of one sort or another.
But my dad and my neighbors weren't having some kind of weird love affair with their guns. They were tools. They were in the closet, unloaded an pretty much forgotten until dad and my brother wanted to go target shooting.
My dad would never have thought of taking a rifle into a public place. Never would have happened.
Did you see the cartoon where this guy is standing in front of a desk with two AK47s hanging off his arms. There is an older lady sitting behind the desk who asks "Have you ever tried Viagra?" That's pretty much how I feel about this stuff.