Sons of Guns

(UPDATED -- See below)

Hey!  Did you hear about the new show coming to Discovery Channel?  During a commercial break yesterday on Discovery, on came a preview for "Sons of Guns," a "reality show" that follows a custom weapons manufacturer and their amazing skills at creating new and deadly weapons, premiering Jan 26.  Canons!  Silencers!  Military assault rifles!  Why, it's like American Chopper gone ballistic -- literally.  I'll bet it's going to be fascinating prime-time, with lots of things blowing up, neat details about current and historical weapons, details on fine metalworking, and no doubt some fascinating characters doing the work.  Another notch in the handle of America's ever-expanding gun culture!

Oh, but ... wait.  Do we really need yet another reminder of our gun culture?  Turn the TV to any other channel and I would bet really good money that whatever show you have turned to will feature some form of violence, usually involving guns.  Here in the Odinson house, I have worked very hard to keep my 5- and 6-year-old kids away from it.  Do you have any idea how hard that is?  No toy guns.  No TV shows or movies with guns.  I even take away the little plastic guns that come with action figures!  And yet guns are so pervasive they STILL show up.  Pink Panther episodes.  Animated Disney movies.  The little LEGO pirate kit my son got.  The kid down the street who brings his plastic guns over (and got a scolding from me not to do it again).  But I think I've succeeded.  My kids will actually turn away toy guns on their own, now, or turn the TV channel, without me even being in the room.

Okay.  I know what some of you are thinking.  "Damned bleeding heart liberal!  What's the big deal?  It's not like a little toy gun is going to make a big difference!"   I know.  I understand.  Trust me, I grew up in a house with real guns.  I LOVED all those little action figure guns, had BB guns and pellet guns and plastic toy guns, and watched so many violent kids movies it's a wonder my brain didn't bleed.  I'm still alive!  You are too!

But don't say that to the Reppond family of Joplin, Missouri.   Their sweet 14-year-old daughter went to a sleepover with three of her friends, on December 29, at the home of Scott Arkle.  Arkle had just gotten a nifty new concealed weapons holster for Christmas and put his .38 handgun in it, then walked away, leaving it unlocked, loaded, and without the safety on, laying on top of a piano.  When the girls walked in and discovered it, they were curious, like most kids, and picked it up.  That's when one of them "removed it from the holster, assuming it was not loaded. She pointed the gun in a joking manner at the Reppond girl and the weapon discharged, the sheriff said."  Young Megan Reppond died later at the hospital.  Mr. Arkle will not be charged, since, as in nearly everywhere in America, Missouri does not have any CAP (Child Access Prevention) laws that require guns be stored locked and unloaded and impose criminal liability on adults who negligently leave firearms accessible to children.  He's quite the "son of guns" now.

No home with children should have a gun, even if it's locked up (kids have an uncanny ability to find keys and combinations, or reach those high shelves).  Always ASK if the home your child goes to has any guns present, and avoid it if it does.  Asking Saves Kids.  More than a third of homes with children have at least one firearm.  "But only 39% of these families keep their firearms locked, unloaded, and separate from ammunition as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. 43% of these U.S. homes with children and guns reported keeping one or more firearms in an unlocked place and without a trigger lock. Nine percent keep their guns loaded as well as unlocked."  (source)

Sadly, accidental shootings like this happen every day in America.  Our culture of violence is so strong that we barely pay attention to the headlines when they are reported, even with children.  I don't know what the Reppond family did, if anything, to help little Megan grow up to understand gun violence, but clearly it wasn't enough to keep her away from the gun.  Doubly so for the other 14-year-old girl who pulled the trigger.  Now do you think I'm over-reacting with my own kids?

Who's really to blame for the death?  All of us. I don't fault Discovery Channel for launching Sons of Guns, really.  They're just feeding a popular culture, for all those Scott Arkles and Megan Repponds to watch.  It's now up to us, all of us, to change that culture and set a new trajectory for our society.  Don't watch it.  Send them a note protesting it, as I have.  And start acting at home to limit your family's exposure.

If we've done our job right, my son (and daughter) won't be a "son of guns," or a victim of one.

UPDATE (12/18/14):  A star of the now-cancelled "Sons of Guns" reality TV show, Will Hayden, has been arrested for forcibly raping two preteen girls, ages 11 and 12 at the time, and also for making moves on his own daughter, and co-star of the show, Stephanie Hayden Ford, when she was only 12.  This former owner of Red Jacket Firearms has spent his life making lethal weapons and preparing himself to kill people.  With constant dark thoughts like that, should we really be surprised that his mind with to other dark corners?