Should I talk to the neighbours?

[Hardhead]

I'm just getting into shooting. I've got an application underway for an R-PAL. Interested in target shooting, maybe IPSC or IDPA if I get good enough.

Here's the question... I have two kids, 4 and 7. The neighbours' kids, around the same age, are frequently in our house playing. We're on good terms with all the neighbours, but I have never talked to any of them about guns before, so I have no idea whether they have any opinions on the subject. Some people have nutty ideas, especially as regards some kinds of guns that people see as inherently evil.

Would it be a good idea to tell the neighbours about my plans, and reassure them that there is no reasonably foreseeable chance that their kids will ever find a gun, especially a loaded gun, lying around the place? I intend to be as responsible a gun owner as you'll ever find anywhere. Would it be reasonable to talk to the kids themselves, just in case I somehow failed to secure a gun properly (maybe I got struck by lightning while cleaning it)? I would warn them that if they do somehow happen to find a gun that looks real, then it probably is real, and they should not touch it, just tell an adult.

If I ever take my own sons shooting, and I expect I will, then there would seem to be a fairly high chance that the neighbours will hear about it anyway.

But maybe bringing it up at all is just asking for trouble.

[Haywire1]

I would just carry on and if the subject comes up adress it then. Thats all I have ever done. Sure I have offended some neighbors. But who gives a fig, I dont live by their rules.

[Jerry Champagne]

No. Store your firearms properly and it's a non issue.

[Mil Specs]

Educate your kids about guns, how to handle them and when to handle them (when you are present and supervising them). Store them properly and take the reasonable precautions (Ie. some kids are extra curious or extra sneaky ) . I would not see any reason to involve our neighbors ,it is really none of their concern if you are reasonably cautious .You could invite them to a range to join you for an afternoon shoot though.

[Haywire1]

I would just carry on and if the subject comes up adress it then. Thats all I have ever done. Sure I have offended some neighbors. But who gives a fig, I dont live by their rules.

Edit-when I say their rules I mean of course their idea of what the rules should be or what they think they are.

[blacksmithden]

For some brain washed reason, you're looking for approval from your neighbors for your hobby. If you bought a fast motorcycle, would you do the same ? If you bought a riding mower, would you seek their approval for that ? I don't need my neighbor's approval for stuff that doesn't effect them. My neighbors should be no more concerned about my guns than they are about my fishing rod. If there is ever a question about it being dangerous, ask them straight out...in a non-apologetic way, what rational reasoning they used to come to believe there was the slightest question of safety. The news ? The news sensationalizes every damned thing to the greatest possible extent, up to and including inventing complete fabrications, and calling them facts, to make their story get one more hit on the internet. Any neighbor who would blindly believe what they read on the internet or see on the news as absolute truth is a moron who isn't worth my intellectual time.

[Mil Specs]

Blacksmithden,As long as you are crimping the barbs on your hooks! I agree fishingrods are none of the neighbors beeswax! Lol

[coastal]

I agree, it's too bad you even have to think like this, and I don't mean the OP, I mean any gun owner in general.

If it were me, I wouldn't bother bringing it up unless they asked you what hobbies you are into at a cul-de-sac block party. At that point I would proudly and enthusiastically tell them how fun your new competition shooting sport is.

[Rory McCanuck]

Shouldn't most people just assume that people have firearms in the house?
Tell them you have a car in the driveway, that's considerably more dangerous.

[CaperJim]

My neighbours know I'm a PAL holder when they see me loading the car to head to the range lol. One neighbour has guns (used to see him shooting on the step on New Years), his son is next door and he's an army medic, other two neighbours are tennants so they better just keep their mouths shut! lol