WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:02.520 Hi, Welcome. This is Doctor John de Martini. This is 2 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:05.240 one of the most amazing and inspiring shows that you 3 00:00:05.240 --> 00:00:06.960 can listen into. If you want to be on the 4 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:08.599 edge of your seats, if you want to open up 5 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:10.720 your heart, if you want to expand your mind, and 6 00:00:10.759 --> 00:00:13.599 you want to meet incredible people, stay tuned because you're 7 00:00:13.640 --> 00:00:16.719 just about to experience transformative radio show that will change 8 00:00:16.719 --> 00:00:18.800 your life. And you're listening to The Doctor Pat Show 9 00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:19.800 is coming up right next. 10 00:00:21.719 --> 00:00:25.000 Welcome to the Doctor Pat Show Talk Radio to thrive 11 00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:29.239 by powerful, inspiring and coming to you live, bringing you 12 00:00:29.320 --> 00:00:33.479 stories of people like you and me busting through and 13 00:00:33.640 --> 00:00:38.320 living life full out. Get ready to dare to wonder 14 00:00:38.679 --> 00:00:41.640 what your life would be like if you knew you 15 00:00:41.759 --> 00:00:42.640 could not fail. 16 00:00:51.719 --> 00:00:54.359 Hey, everybody, I want to welcome you to a special edition. 17 00:00:55.079 --> 00:00:58.399 Now here's what I want to say before I introduce 18 00:00:58.520 --> 00:01:04.079 you to my very special guest today. You know, one 19 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:06.439 of the things you all have heard me talk about 20 00:01:06.519 --> 00:01:09.560 over and over and over again is how I grew 21 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:13.040 up what I was exposed to, but very few of 22 00:01:13.159 --> 00:01:15.439 you ever heard me talk about the fact that I 23 00:01:15.480 --> 00:01:18.840 also grew up in a military family. I also grew 24 00:01:18.920 --> 00:01:23.280 up in a police family. Yeah, I have on one 25 00:01:23.319 --> 00:01:25.840 side of the family chief of Police, the other side 26 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:30.120 of the family major sergeant. So what is the thing 27 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:34.640 that happens when you're around people in that arena. The 28 00:01:34.680 --> 00:01:38.640 other part of what I grew up with is understanding 29 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:41.200 how to live off the land. And I was very 30 00:01:41.239 --> 00:01:45.239 fortunate to be part of studying the land with some 31 00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:49.319 incredible Indigenous people. But one of the things that we 32 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:54.040 don't talk about is what was that like for us 33 00:01:54.120 --> 00:01:59.040 as kids, And actually have never talked about it until now. 34 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:03.840 Joining me today is David Hayes Cox wrote a new book. 35 00:02:04.359 --> 00:02:10.800 It is called This is a Gun. This book is 36 00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:17.080 so needed, it is so timely, And what I want 37 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:19.759 to say about it is, if you're from my family, 38 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:24.400 you got the schooling on this is a gun early on. 39 00:02:25.479 --> 00:02:29.639 But yet here we are and we're just not talking 40 00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:35.319 about it. And yet, David, half of the families is 41 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:39.560 it in the United States owned guns? Is that a 42 00:02:39.639 --> 00:02:40.960 correct deal? 43 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:41.560 Right there? 44 00:02:42.159 --> 00:02:47.360 It's between forty and fifty of American owned firearms. That's correct. 45 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:50.680 So thank you for joining me here today. This is 46 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:53.919 a safety guide for families with children, and it is 47 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:58.599 so needed. You know, I was very fortunate because my 48 00:02:58.759 --> 00:03:02.800 family was so open about their military experience or police experience. 49 00:03:02.840 --> 00:03:05.919 A lot of us wanted to become police people or whatever. 50 00:03:05.960 --> 00:03:09.840 That is. Right, So those conversations happened early, Right, we 51 00:03:09.879 --> 00:03:14.719 got exposure early. But what's going on with families that 52 00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:18.719 were so afraid to have these conversations with our children. 53 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:22.199 Well, first of all, thanks for having me on. I 54 00:03:22.280 --> 00:03:23.120 really appreciate it. 55 00:03:23.439 --> 00:03:25.240 Yeah, it's great to have here. 56 00:03:25.039 --> 00:03:31.159 You're absolutely right. What's not happening is families, both families 57 00:03:31.240 --> 00:03:34.560 that own firearms and families that do not own firearms, 58 00:03:34.879 --> 00:03:38.680 are not having the conversation with their children, their younger 59 00:03:38.759 --> 00:03:42.960 children about firearms, just about the fact that they exist 60 00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:45.439 in this world, especially in our country here in the 61 00:03:45.479 --> 00:03:49.360 United States. They exist, and they're dangerous items if they're 62 00:03:49.639 --> 00:03:53.000 not used properly, just like any other tool in our house, 63 00:03:53.400 --> 00:03:56.919 any other thing that could be dangerous. We're avoiding this conversation, 64 00:03:57.159 --> 00:04:01.560 and it's both sides. Firearms owners and non firearms owners 65 00:04:01.719 --> 00:04:04.919 are avoiding this conversation. Now, like you said, you grew 66 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:07.240 up in a family that didn't avoid this conversation, and 67 00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:11.120 there certainly are plenty of firearms owning families that are 68 00:04:11.319 --> 00:04:14.759 doing the right thing. Having that conversation. For sure, they 69 00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:19.399 exist for lots of them. But unfortunately, there is still 70 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:23.560 a lot of accidental deaths happening in this country, and 71 00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:25.600 we can prevent them. All we have to do is 72 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:26.439 educate our children. 73 00:04:26.920 --> 00:04:28.720 I love that we're talking about this. You know, my 74 00:04:28.839 --> 00:04:32.240 family immigrated here and my grandfather lived off the land 75 00:04:32.279 --> 00:04:37.079 from Brazil, so you know, coming to the United States 76 00:04:37.319 --> 00:04:41.079 not understanding the rules here. Of course you bring what 77 00:04:41.240 --> 00:04:45.439 you know. And you know, all of us were exposed 78 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:48.279 to this because you walk into our house you see 79 00:04:48.279 --> 00:04:51.600 a gun over the mantle. I mean, those are some 80 00:04:51.720 --> 00:04:53.680 of the things that I was exposed to, but it 81 00:04:53.720 --> 00:04:56.000 isn't so obvious in a lot of families. And I 82 00:04:56.040 --> 00:04:58.199 want to talk to you about the second thing you said. 83 00:04:58.680 --> 00:05:01.639 You know, you talked about having conversation and families that 84 00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:04.519 don't own guns. Let's talk about the importance of that, 85 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:07.879 and then we'll talk about how you illustrated the book. 86 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:11.160 Why is that important to have that conversation, regardless whether. 87 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:13.600 You've got a gun or not, because we're not in 88 00:05:13.639 --> 00:05:17.560 control of the environments that we are not in control of, 89 00:05:18.120 --> 00:05:22.480 and the numbers here in America are between four hundred 90 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:27.000 and five hundred million guns are in civilian hands. Now, 91 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:29.399 I'm not here to judge that number. I'm just here 92 00:05:29.480 --> 00:05:32.000 to tell you that that's what the number is. And 93 00:05:32.040 --> 00:05:34.879 that means that, along with what we mentioned before, which 94 00:05:34.920 --> 00:05:37.199 is that between forty and fifty two percent of us 95 00:05:37.240 --> 00:05:42.199 households own firearms, that your child, whether you have a 96 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:44.040 house with a gun in it or not, if your 97 00:05:44.120 --> 00:05:46.600 child is old enough to play at a friend's house 98 00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:50.839 and play unsupervised, there is about a fifty to fifty 99 00:05:50.920 --> 00:05:54.079 chance that they're playing in a house that might own 100 00:05:54.120 --> 00:05:57.040 a firearm. And I'm not saying that just because a 101 00:05:57.079 --> 00:05:58.600 house owns a firearm that it's going to be a 102 00:05:58.680 --> 00:06:01.040 dangerous situation. I'm not saying that at all. All I'm 103 00:06:01.079 --> 00:06:03.879 saying is that we can't be in control of environments 104 00:06:03.879 --> 00:06:06.240 that we're not in control of, and we need to 105 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:11.519 prepare our children for any possible situations. Yeah, I say 106 00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:14.600 this all the time. With this, which is, we don't 107 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:16.959 send our children out into the world without preparing them 108 00:06:16.959 --> 00:06:19.639 for that world. We teach them to look both ways 109 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:22.720 before they cross the street. We teach them about stranger danger, 110 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:25.639 We teach them all of these things about being on 111 00:06:25.720 --> 00:06:28.439 their own out in the world. But for some reason, 112 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:30.759 well I know the reason, we all know the reason. 113 00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:35.399 Because guns are such a contentious political topic, we avoid 114 00:06:35.560 --> 00:06:39.120 this conversation completely and we think that if we avoid it, 115 00:06:39.480 --> 00:06:41.560 nothing's going to happen, and it's just not going to 116 00:06:41.560 --> 00:06:44.000 affect us. And unfortunately, the numbers are saying that's not 117 00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:44.519 the case. 118 00:06:44.920 --> 00:06:47.000 No, it's not, and that's going to be I mean, 119 00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:49.720 we're not talking about something that is based on the 120 00:06:49.800 --> 00:06:53.360 law diminishing returns right now, because the amount of homes 121 00:06:53.720 --> 00:06:56.920 and families and peoples that are now going out acquiring 122 00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:00.720 guns and getting some people are actually getting turned. You know. Look, 123 00:07:00.839 --> 00:07:04.240 I come from this family where my brother in law 124 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:08.680 was a master archer, and I remember walking in his 125 00:07:08.839 --> 00:07:11.600 room one day and he. 126 00:07:11.720 --> 00:07:14.000 Just got back. First of all, I wasn't supposed to 127 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:16.519 be in his bedroom, right, I mean, you shouldn't even 128 00:07:16.519 --> 00:07:23.240 be there. But he hadn't put away his beautiful archery equipment. 129 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:27.639 And here's the kid going over to the equipment. I 130 00:07:27.720 --> 00:07:30.120 got to tell you, my brother in law jumped out 131 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:33.480 of that bathroom like it was nobody's business. And what 132 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:35.800 it led to is sitting us down and having a 133 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:39.399 conversation about what it is, what it does, and what 134 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:42.879 to be aware of because like anything, right, I mean, 135 00:07:42.920 --> 00:07:46.519 he was an Olympic kind of guy. Like anything, there 136 00:07:46.519 --> 00:07:51.160 are moments in a family or something like that might happen, 137 00:07:51.480 --> 00:07:55.120 do you know what I mean? I love the way 138 00:07:55.160 --> 00:07:56.800 you start the book, and I want to start there. 139 00:07:58.519 --> 00:08:00.920 You asked the question, and I want to ask the 140 00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:04.160 audience this question, and thank you for the illustrations. Thank 141 00:08:04.199 --> 00:08:09.920 you so much, you say in the opening. And this 142 00:08:10.040 --> 00:08:11.720 is not just for kids. I want to go this 143 00:08:11.800 --> 00:08:13.839 out there for the parents too. What do you do 144 00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:17.279 if you see a gun and you give us three choices? 145 00:08:17.759 --> 00:08:20.639 Do not touch the gun, run away from it, tell 146 00:08:20.680 --> 00:08:23.839 an adult about the gun. Now, why am I bringing 147 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:28.040 that up? That is one of the fundamental things where 148 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:33.200 we should start to educate our kids about. And we 149 00:08:33.240 --> 00:08:37.320 don't know what to do to answer that question. Generally speaking, 150 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:38.080 we don't do it. 151 00:08:38.960 --> 00:08:42.919 That's right, and it seems so straightforward when we say 152 00:08:42.960 --> 00:08:47.600 it out loud, But we need to explain this to 153 00:08:47.639 --> 00:08:51.679 our kids because they have developing minds and they can't 154 00:08:51.720 --> 00:08:54.480 come to that simple conclusion on their own. They just 155 00:08:54.639 --> 00:08:58.080 can't do it all the time, or if ever, if 156 00:08:58.080 --> 00:09:02.720 they're not given the instruction first a child has an 157 00:09:02.759 --> 00:09:06.039 idea in their head about guns that is built upon 158 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:13.279 just movies, television shows, video games, their friends playing on 159 00:09:13.320 --> 00:09:17.320 the playground, nerf guns, squirt guns. They have this amalgam 160 00:09:17.320 --> 00:09:20.000 built up in their head about what a real gun is. 161 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:25.679 And mostly all of that is positive because heroes use them, 162 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:29.120 They have fun and games playing with toy guns. They 163 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:34.279 don't have a sense of danger about guns unless we 164 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:40.559 as parents explain to them that a real gun is dangerous, 165 00:09:41.200 --> 00:09:44.279 a real gun requires training, a real gun should never 166 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:49.360 be touched by an untrained hand, and real gun shouldn't 167 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:51.879 be touched by a young child. And if we don't 168 00:09:51.879 --> 00:09:55.440 explain this to them and they come across one, they're 169 00:09:55.480 --> 00:09:57.879 going to go towards it, not away from it, and 170 00:09:57.919 --> 00:09:59.159 it won't be their fault at all. 171 00:09:59.720 --> 00:09:59.840 Ye. 172 00:10:00.480 --> 00:10:04.960 Yeah, A lot of the situations that happened, including one 173 00:10:04.960 --> 00:10:07.639 from my childhood, right. I told you we were well 174 00:10:07.679 --> 00:10:11.360 schooled even as very young kids. And I remember going 175 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:15.039 over to Joseph's house one day and down his basement 176 00:10:15.080 --> 00:10:18.279 and there he had his dad's gun out of nowhere. 177 00:10:18.799 --> 00:10:20.840 And I like at the beginning of the book where 178 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:23.480 you give us different guns, right, you give us different 179 00:10:23.480 --> 00:10:27.080 gun types because we were also schooled. But when I 180 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:29.480 was growing up, I didn't have to worry. We didn't 181 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:33.120 have to worry about automatic or semi automatic machine type guns, right, 182 00:10:34.039 --> 00:10:37.679 But we did recognize some of them, like a snubnose 183 00:10:37.799 --> 00:10:41.000 or a smaller gun or something like that. And I 184 00:10:41.080 --> 00:10:44.840 remember going down there and Joseph had this gun, and 185 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:49.399 I was like, dude, put the gun away. This is 186 00:10:49.600 --> 00:10:51.279 put the put it down. I'm not going to come 187 00:10:51.320 --> 00:10:54.080 down your basement. Put the gun down. Put it down. 188 00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:58.320 Because kids, it's hard to convert kids from I got 189 00:10:58.360 --> 00:11:02.279 the I got the holster, the toy holster, and now 190 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:05.159 I got a real gun, and convert them to the 191 00:11:05.240 --> 00:11:08.080 wisdom and the knowledge that those are not the same. 192 00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:10.799 You don't wave the gun around. Isn't that One of 193 00:11:10.840 --> 00:11:13.879 the greatest challenge we have is the lack of knowledge 194 00:11:13.960 --> 00:11:18.039 or even shall I say, ignorance of young people because 195 00:11:18.039 --> 00:11:18.960 they haven't been taught. 196 00:11:19.720 --> 00:11:23.320 That's right. Without proper training, they're not going to know 197 00:11:23.480 --> 00:11:26.039 how to be safe around a firearm. And you are 198 00:11:26.080 --> 00:11:29.360 so lucky that you had at least some training from 199 00:11:29.399 --> 00:11:33.200 your parents, you know, to be wary of a real firearm. 200 00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:36.120 And to say that I would even I would even 201 00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:39.559 add these days, I would say, if you come down 202 00:11:39.799 --> 00:11:42.879 and your friend is holding a gun, don't even try 203 00:11:42.919 --> 00:11:45.360 to tell them to put it down. Turn around, get 204 00:11:45.399 --> 00:11:47.600 out of them, word, get out, Find an adult to 205 00:11:47.679 --> 00:11:50.639 tell them to put it down. Don't put that on yourself, 206 00:11:50.919 --> 00:11:54.159 don't put that on your child to instruct another child 207 00:11:54.240 --> 00:11:56.720 what to do about a firearm. Your job is to 208 00:11:56.720 --> 00:11:59.240 stay alive. Your job is to get out of that room. 209 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:02.360 Yeah, and thank you for saying that, because that is 210 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:05.399 the best advice. You know. As a kid, you don't 211 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:09.120 know what to do. But we have to make our 212 00:12:09.200 --> 00:12:12.879 children educated. We really do have to drive the point home. 213 00:12:13.320 --> 00:12:15.720 If you're walking into a room and somebody's waving around 214 00:12:15.759 --> 00:12:18.080 a gun, you need to get out. I mean, don't 215 00:12:18.120 --> 00:12:21.080 you think that there are things we could talk about 216 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:25.480 today that are some of the misconceptions. 217 00:12:25.960 --> 00:12:26.120 Right. 218 00:12:26.559 --> 00:12:30.200 Number one, All guns are dangerous, end a story, even 219 00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:33.120 the gun I held up from World War Two before 220 00:12:33.159 --> 00:12:35.360 the show. All guns are dangerous, and if you think 221 00:12:35.399 --> 00:12:37.320 about them any other way, we're going to be in trouble. 222 00:12:37.840 --> 00:12:40.360 That's right. I mean, we have to explain all guns 223 00:12:40.360 --> 00:12:43.559 are dangerous in the same way that all knives are dangerous. 224 00:12:44.039 --> 00:12:47.639 All chainsaws are dangerous. All bodies of water that you 225 00:12:47.679 --> 00:12:50.679 don't know how to swim in are dangerous. This is 226 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:54.480 what everybody needs to understand. And as long as we 227 00:12:54.519 --> 00:12:57.639 can educate our children how to identify a firearm and 228 00:12:57.879 --> 00:13:01.720 understand that it's a dangerous that they shouldn't touch, then 229 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:02.960 they can remain safe. 230 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:08.720 Yeah. Now, look, you have been knowledgeable teaching for I 231 00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:12.480 think it's over twenty years. What do you think is 232 00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:15.360 let's start with the parents. What do you think The 233 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:18.720 number one, and I'm gonna call it a mistake, is 234 00:13:18.759 --> 00:13:22.480 that they make newly gun owner old gun order. I 235 00:13:22.519 --> 00:13:24.879 don't care what kind of gunoder, but what's at the 236 00:13:24.919 --> 00:13:28.279 top of your list that people should be like? Please, parents, 237 00:13:28.679 --> 00:13:30.039 you got to think better than this. 238 00:13:31.279 --> 00:13:35.240 Well. Top of the list for new gun owners is 239 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:39.879 that they have to budget for storage. Period. New gun owners, 240 00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:45.200 you can't have storage as a side. I'll get to 241 00:13:45.240 --> 00:13:48.200 it eventually. Yeah, you have a budget for a firearm, 242 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:52.480 and you're a parent, especially a parent, you need to 243 00:13:52.480 --> 00:13:54.960 make sure that that budget includes a way to lock 244 00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:58.320 that gun up period. You cannot take a new gun 245 00:13:58.360 --> 00:14:00.279 into your house with kids in your house and not 246 00:14:00.440 --> 00:14:03.000 have a way to securely store that so that your 247 00:14:03.080 --> 00:14:06.360 children cannot access it. And that doesn't mean putting it 248 00:14:06.399 --> 00:14:11.759 on the top shelf, because the statistics show that you know. 249 00:14:11.799 --> 00:14:14.200 That might work for the toddler years, But as soon 250 00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:18.440 as your kids have a sense of direction, a sense 251 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:21.360 of where each room is, an ability to walk through 252 00:14:21.399 --> 00:14:24.240 each room on their own without you chasing after them, 253 00:14:24.639 --> 00:14:27.679 they eventually find out where the firearms are at a 254 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:31.240 much higher rate than you could possibly imagine. And as 255 00:14:31.279 --> 00:14:33.840 a matter of fact, most children know where your firearms are, 256 00:14:34.559 --> 00:14:38.320 even if they haven't told you that they know. So 257 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:43.039 it's so crucial that you have storage, a storage device 258 00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:45.720 or a lock for your firearm. That's number one. 259 00:14:47.639 --> 00:14:51.919 Let's talk about this. Putting the gun in your dress 260 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:55.080 or drawer because you think your children are not allowed 261 00:14:55.080 --> 00:15:00.360 to come in your bedroom. That's a big no. Gun 262 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:04.080 in the dresser drawer unlocked, and you think you're burying 263 00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:08.120 it in your underwear, That isn't it. Putting your rifle 264 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:12.360 under the bed, Are you kidding me? But these are 265 00:15:12.440 --> 00:15:16.080 things that we do, and what you're doing is educating 266 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:18.279 us not to do this. One question I have about 267 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:20.840 safety and I want to get to it. This this 268 00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:23.840 idea that I just bought a case for my gun, 269 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:28.559 beautiful heavy duty black case. Everything's in the case, right, 270 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:35.360 I'm protecting it, not really though, as long as that's 271 00:15:36.600 --> 00:15:40.840 if it's got a lock. But also you need to 272 00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:44.080 not have it in a case where it's obvious that 273 00:15:44.120 --> 00:15:47.679 your children see it. You know, kids, I don't care 274 00:15:47.799 --> 00:15:51.480 what they are. They're curious and as they get older, 275 00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:55.320 whatever happens in their mind, whatever movie they're watching, whatever, whatever, 276 00:15:55.399 --> 00:15:59.559 whatever whatever influence they are, under peer group pressure, they're 277 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:01.159 going to find that thing. They're going to take it 278 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:02.879 outside and they're going to probably try to put a 279 00:16:02.879 --> 00:16:06.480 sledgehammer to it to open it. And so we have 280 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:10.799 to be a little bit more careful, don't we. 281 00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:14.279 Well, I agree with with caution always, but I will 282 00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:18.080 say this, The goal is to make sure that firearms 283 00:16:18.120 --> 00:16:19.919 are not a forbidden fruit. 284 00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:20.960 No. 285 00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:23.919 So what that means is that you need to normalize 286 00:16:24.799 --> 00:16:26.720 that there are fire If you are a firearms owner, 287 00:16:27.080 --> 00:16:30.039 you need to normalize that. You need to educate your kids. 288 00:16:30.200 --> 00:16:34.320 And I think it's completely okay to let your children 289 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:37.200 know that, yes, you are a firearms owner, when you're 290 00:16:37.240 --> 00:16:40.080 ready to make that when you're ready to make that statement, 291 00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:42.480 when you're ready to tell them about that. I think 292 00:16:42.519 --> 00:16:45.559 it's completely okay that they know this, and a lot 293 00:16:45.559 --> 00:16:48.360 of firearms owners, you know, if their child tells them, 294 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:51.759 their younger child, child five, six, seven years old, hey 295 00:16:52.440 --> 00:16:56.559 can I see your gun? That's a completely okay question 296 00:16:56.639 --> 00:16:57.159 to ask. 297 00:16:57.720 --> 00:16:57.919 Yeah. 298 00:16:58.000 --> 00:16:59.919 The best thing that you can do is not go 299 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:02.279 so no, never, I'll never let you see that that 300 00:17:02.360 --> 00:17:04.359 you should never ever touch it, don't you know, don't 301 00:17:04.519 --> 00:17:06.640 don't ever talk about it. That's that's not what we 302 00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:08.759 should do. What we should do is make sure that 303 00:17:09.079 --> 00:17:12.799 one it's unloaded, and two that you you don't have 304 00:17:12.839 --> 00:17:14.200 to let them hold it. You don't have to let 305 00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:17.039 them touch it, but just for them to see it, 306 00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:20.759 and you show them how you're holding it safely. You 307 00:17:20.839 --> 00:17:23.200 need to know the four Universal Laws of gun safety, 308 00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:26.160 which will show you how to properly hold a firearm 309 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:29.119 even if it's unloaded in front of your child. Make 310 00:17:29.160 --> 00:17:31.720 sure that you you do this so that the gun 311 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:35.359 doesn't become this forbidden fruit that they're driven out of 312 00:17:35.400 --> 00:17:38.640 curiosity towards. And that way, if you do have a 313 00:17:38.680 --> 00:17:42.160 case with a lock on it, it won't become something 314 00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:44.720 so extreme that they might take it outside and put 315 00:17:44.720 --> 00:17:48.480 a sledgehammer to it because it's just normalized in your 316 00:17:48.519 --> 00:17:51.319 home and so or they're just not curious any longer. 317 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:53.519 Oh yeah, it has a gun, it's locked up. 318 00:17:55.079 --> 00:17:57.359 I love that you're talking about that, because if it's 319 00:17:57.359 --> 00:18:00.440 not normalized the way you behave around your peers and kids, 320 00:18:00.440 --> 00:18:02.519 and you cover this in your book. I want to 321 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:04.359 take a minute and I just want to ask you, 322 00:18:04.920 --> 00:18:07.240 first of all, how do people get the book and 323 00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:09.200 how do they find out more about that? What is 324 00:18:09.240 --> 00:18:10.039 your website? 325 00:18:10.519 --> 00:18:13.119 The website is this is agun dot org and you 326 00:18:13.119 --> 00:18:15.640 can buy the book on Amazon. You can buy it 327 00:18:15.640 --> 00:18:19.440 at Barnesandoble dot com. Any online retailer that sells books 328 00:18:19.640 --> 00:18:20.559 carries this book. 329 00:18:21.240 --> 00:18:21.680 Yeah. 330 00:18:21.720 --> 00:18:23.359 I want to go back to what you said because 331 00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:27.400 it's very very important. It's actually the psychology that's behind this. 332 00:18:27.799 --> 00:18:29.599 And one of the things that I want to get 333 00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:33.119 back to that you said is we have to normalize 334 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:38.960 it so that a behavior doesn't seem extreme. And what 335 00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:40.680 am I talking about it? It's you and I are 336 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:43.480 adults talking about this, but that's not always a scenario. 337 00:18:44.039 --> 00:18:46.640 It's your twelve or thirteen year old with your neighbor's 338 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:50.400 twelve or thirteen year old or having a conversation. You know, 339 00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:53.000 one wants to see a gun, the other one doesn't. 340 00:18:53.279 --> 00:18:58.720 And if you're not prepared for scenarios like that, then 341 00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:01.039 you're going to get tripped up. 342 00:19:02.359 --> 00:19:04.640 That's right, and that's why you have to instill this 343 00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:08.279 confidence in your child. When you give them adequate information, 344 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:14.319 When you can give them permission to talk confidently about 345 00:19:14.440 --> 00:19:18.839 firearm safety, they can insulate themselves from peer pressure. If 346 00:19:18.839 --> 00:19:21.519 you don't give them permission to say no to a friend, 347 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:24.039 they will say no to the friend. So that's that 348 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:28.599 comes from the parents confidence. We take our confidence and 349 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:30.880 we lend it to our children and we say it's 350 00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:33.039 okay to say no to your friend. If your friend 351 00:19:33.400 --> 00:19:35.359 is like, hey, my dad's got a gun. You want 352 00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:38.720 to see it? You say no, thank you, I'm good, 353 00:19:39.079 --> 00:19:41.240 right you. You have permission to say no to your 354 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:44.680 friend from us. We're telling you that that's okay and 355 00:19:44.759 --> 00:19:46.559 that you're not going to get in any trouble for 356 00:19:46.599 --> 00:19:48.319 saying no to your friend. Your friend is going to 357 00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:51.720 be okay with you saying no. It's it's going to 358 00:19:51.759 --> 00:19:53.920 be fine if you tell them no. And the same 359 00:19:53.960 --> 00:19:56.440 thing goes with your own helm where they go, hey, 360 00:19:56.640 --> 00:19:59.920 does your gun? Does your dad own a firearm? Right? 361 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:01.759 Can I see it? Can you show it to me? 362 00:20:02.200 --> 00:20:02.400 Right? 363 00:20:02.519 --> 00:20:05.880 Give them permission to say no, that's not how it works. 364 00:20:06.519 --> 00:20:08.640 So we have to give them that permission. 365 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:12.400 Yeah, you know, I know this is a short interview, 366 00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:15.480 but I want to get to one of the latter 367 00:20:15.559 --> 00:20:21.599 parts in the book, and it is the promise section. Yes, now, 368 00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:24.400 I got to ask you. I love that you put 369 00:20:24.440 --> 00:20:28.200 that there. What was behind your thinking of including my 370 00:20:28.279 --> 00:20:31.960 gun safety promise in the book? I just love the 371 00:20:32.039 --> 00:20:35.920 way that is because it does something very very cool. 372 00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:39.599 First of all, it engages the youth and not scolds them. 373 00:20:39.720 --> 00:20:42.160 It is that thing where you're talking about normalized but 374 00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:45.599 you're also teaching them about accountability, about the fact that 375 00:20:45.640 --> 00:20:46.519 guns do kill. 376 00:20:47.559 --> 00:20:51.559 That's right. It's a section where the child basically can 377 00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:55.200 read out all of the steps for firearms safety and 378 00:20:55.240 --> 00:20:58.279 then they sign their name on there, and that helps 379 00:20:58.319 --> 00:21:01.839 them take ownership of this. It's a pledge to themselves, 380 00:21:01.880 --> 00:21:04.079 and it's a pledge to their parents in the community 381 00:21:04.440 --> 00:21:07.119 that they're going to be responsible when it comes to 382 00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:11.559 firearms and firearms safety. And it's just another way. It's 383 00:21:11.599 --> 00:21:15.000 another tool in the toolbox for getting our children engaged 384 00:21:15.279 --> 00:21:18.640 and making sure that these rules stick in their head. 385 00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:20.160 That's the most important part. 386 00:21:20.759 --> 00:21:24.200 Yeah, let's go over some of the common guns that 387 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:28.000 we find in households. You also talk about this in 388 00:21:28.039 --> 00:21:30.319 the book, and many of the people here may or 389 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:32.799 may not know, but you also need to educate your 390 00:21:32.839 --> 00:21:36.480 family on I think on gun type. I really think 391 00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:40.400 it's important for if you're going to be around guns, 392 00:21:42.119 --> 00:21:45.119 you have to understand what you're around, right. You know, 393 00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:48.640 if you're going to work with your dad on your car, right, 394 00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:52.160 you have to understand what you're using to work on 395 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:56.359 that car. Same thing in anything you do in life, 396 00:21:56.400 --> 00:21:58.920 you have to understand the tools you're using. You have 397 00:21:58.960 --> 00:22:01.319 to understand why you're using them. You have to be 398 00:22:01.400 --> 00:22:06.480 able to see. You know, please don't go near that 399 00:22:06.640 --> 00:22:09.799 table saw if you don't know how to use it. Folks, Right, 400 00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:13.119 that's right, But not every table saw is the same. 401 00:22:13.279 --> 00:22:15.480