Look at the stats on gun ownership and gun violence across the US. NY is actually on the lower end (not average or middle, but lower) which means that you’d have less likelihood than most people in your country to be exposed to such things. But I still bet income might have something to do with it. It’s wrong to make…

Well I don’t know where you live, but actually this is pretty common in the US. I think the country is so class-segregated that perhaps people who grew up in a cushy area or in a remote area or in a suburb or something are not aware of it. I know a few people who were murdered with guns including two family members…

It’s funny because most gun owners that I’m around (now) are responsible like this. However, when I was a kid, I grew up around hunters and the guns were everywhere. Not handguns- I didn’t even see a handgun except on a cop until I was a teenager. But rifles and shotguns- they were everywhere. Propped up against the…

BTW, it sounds like we have a very similar family background (re: American hunters who’ve been here for hundreds of years on one side, recent immigrants on the other). Also a similar dynamic regarding experience with guns. Where I’m confused is that you are talking about children finding guns and accidentally shooting…

Yes, guns can be safe, and yes, gun safety education is important. I don’t know why you keep saying that you can do whatever you want with your own kids. Of course you can. I certainly was not challenging that. But you introduced the topic, and I’m asking you about it logistically. And I appreciate your answers. I…

I didn’t assume anything. I’m asking.

Well I absolutely agree that you should do whatever you want with your family. That sort of very sheltered and restrictive child-rearing is pretty common among Indians, for example, so I’ve seen this work just fine when it is the cultural norm. I can’t imagine anything like that working for any kid I live around now.…

I don’t know what sort of weird bubble you live in, but where I live, there aren’t kids who grow up without guns. EVERY home has guns in it except mine. And despite a full THIRD of all Americans owning guns, just 250 kids die from them every year. I don’t like either of these facts, but I live in reality and don’t…

Seriously. I think I’m the only house on the block without guns. If I had a rule like that, the kids would have to stay home.

Yeah, and if you collect of age range (since mostly young children die of drowning, but all ages die from guns) then pools are very deadly to small children in comparison.

OK, but you have a toddler. You’d be negligent not to know all of that about any place your toddler plays.

If you asked me all of those questions, I would not let you or your children come onto my property.

I think some of you are having trouble realizing that when people talk about their KIDS, they do not only mean small children. Your kids will go to the houses of people you don’t know. Unless you are isolating them or very paranoid, they will do this many many many times.

Nonsense as an analogy. There is an age in a child’s life when he/she needs to be protected from open bodies of water. Any responsible adult would consider this. It also so happens that children that age do not usually go to the homes of people their parents don’t actually know socially. None of these things apply to…

The difference between a pool and a gun is that your kid will learn to swim and you will not be running around asking about pools when your kid is, say, 9. I picture logistical hassles like a 3rd grader working on an after school project with other kids. Can he go home with another kid’s mom? Depends. First I’ve got…

Yup, exactly. I don’t own guns either. But it seems really irrational to worry about that over pools, cars, illness, etc.

I’m not arguing with your ability to make whatever rules you want. I’m confused about the logistics and honestly asking. I mean, it might work with small children, but once the kid is in later elementary and middle school, I think it would be a logistical hassle to keep your kid out of every home with guns- not to…

I don’t see anything wrong with including suicides in those states as a cautionary tale. You might think that you or your loved ones will not commit suicide, but that’s what everyone who experiences it thinks. And having a gun in the house does in fact make it much easier to commit suicide- and many suicides are…

How in the world are you going to manage that?

Don’t make a million assumptions- you are assuming things about my background and my professional experience and my opinions.