Experiment Shows Differences Between Children With Guns in the Home and Those Without

a reply to: OneNationUnder

You're right that this was a bogus experiment, but it really wasn't one designed to cast guns in a bad light. Please try rereading the opening post, and hopefully you will understand.

a reply to: XyZeR

Hmmm... whadya know... America falls to about 109 down the list on global gun violence... and a few nations with strict anti-gun ownership laws, or super strict laws, within a morning plane flight, that have a factor of multiples of more gun violence than the U.S...

...didn't make the list XyZer put up. I'm sure it's just an oversight... LOL

a reply to: OneNationUnder

I think you're misconstruing the actual aim of and result of this study. The actual findings were the opposite of what you got out of it. What was determined was that kids who grew up around firearms were more inclined to be responsible with and understand the dangers of the weapons and were far less likely to just pick one up and "play" as if it were a toy because they had been better educated whereas the kids who grew up in homes where firearms were persona non grata didn't have as keen am awareness of the dangers and thus had more of an inclination to pick one up because of their innate curiosity.

a reply to: peter vlar

I think the study meant to promote this idea right here. An evil idea of putting the onus on innocent children. So if a kid finds a gun sitting on the table, accidentally shoots someone, its the parents fault for not being gun owners.

"Especially since your untrained kid will probably shoot my kid because you neglected to teach them responsible gun safety. "

a reply to: MOMof3


I've seen similar 'experiments' before. ABC ran a report a few months back where they did the same thing, throwing a fake gun in with a pile of toys and acting all surprised, shocked and horrified when some of the kids pick it up and play with it. Its designed to appear as though you, the parent, are acting irresponsibly and are absolutely creating a clear and imminent danger to your children if you have a firearm in the home.

Of course, its also completely disingenuous, because no one throws a firearm into a pile of toys, but that never stopped the media from promoting an agenda at the expense of reality. But even then, it didn't work out quite as well as they'd hoped, as some of the kids had enough training from their parents to know that it was potentially dangerous and should be left alone.

a reply to: vor78

What the hell are you smoking. This is obviously promoting the other agenda, the "everyone should have a firearm" one.

a reply to: Eilasvaleleyn

Not exactly. That appears to be the spin of the news station, but when you throw a firearm into a pile of toys, its kind of obvious that the agenda of the study itself is hardly pro-gun, even if the results aren't quite what you intended.

a reply to: vor78

These results are exactly what you'd expect. The experiment was barely worth doing at all.

What was the age of the children, by the way?

a reply to: Eilasvaleleyn

I think the video said kindergarten, so 5 or 6.

And yes, the results are exactly what you'd expect. Its not a surprise whatsoever that some of the kids treated the (fake) firearm as a toy. Kids are going to associate virtually anything in a toy box or a pile of toys as itself being a toy. That was the intended result of the 'experiment', to show that a kid will play with a firearm as if its a toy and to imply that you shouldn't have one for that reason, because you're obviously creating a dangerous environment for the children.

originally posted by: madmac5150
The NRA had a program years ago that taught kids about gun safety. They had a safety instructor that would speak in schools. Those programs were phased out by liberal school administrators because "guns are evil"... whatever... if you teach your child gun safety and proper handling, along with the shooter's responsibilities... well, he probably won't shoot up his high school to thin down the graduating class...

Feed him psychotropic meds (as prescribed, of course... all teen angst can be medicated,. after all... ), give no education and let video games feed his moral compass... then let the media glorify his crimes... recipe for disaster.

ALL of my kids have been very well instructed as to proper firearms handling.... they are all excellent shooters, and not ONE of them has killed themselves ACCIDENTALLY... NOR have they shot up their schools.

Awesome topic!

I don't understand the consistent dragging if video games into these discussions. I was raised playing video games, and I was also raised with guns. I've never once touched one that wasn't meant to be touched, nor have I had any accidents, or other violence related scenarios unfold while handling a firearm.

Video games are actually healthy for the mind and promote a lot of stimulative growth. It's stupidity that causes the problems; not a program.

I, and many people I know, have played Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, Battlefield etc for many years and not one of us has ever shot up a school, or committed some other atrocious act. All it takes is a little intelligence, and a lot of common sense.

The problem I see is that the younger generation (in general) are idiots. They're not fit to teach a dog to sit let alone teach a child responsibility. I'm talking about my generation, and the ones after me. 1980's, 90's and above. Imbeciles.

a reply to: imthegoat

There are some very fine people from that generation, I've met a few.
There are some fine people from the 90's, I'm one of them. (Late 90's, though.)

You have idiots in every generation, I feel that in the current age it is simply more observable than in previous ones.

originally posted by: Eilasvaleleyn
a reply to: imthegoat

There are some very fine people from that generation, I've met a few.
There are some fine people from the 90's, I'm one of them. (Late 90's, though.)

You have idiots in every generation, I feel that in the current age it is simply more observable than in previous ones.

I agree with you. I was just generalizing as I stated. As my grandma always said "there's good and bad in everyone."

I just read this whole thread.
Anyone else notice, that while many here, including myself, were educated young about respecting guns and how to use them,
WE were also parented?
As in, we actually were disciplined, and seemed to have a healthy dose of fear and respect for our parents?

You know, back in the day when you could discipline your kids?