Our 8 yr old neighbor has a BB gun and his mom and her boyfriend seem to let him play outside with it unsupervised. I've only seen him shoot it once while we were outside. He usually doesn't have it out or doesn't use it when we're out there. One time, I heard him outside with it and could have sworn he was shooting into our yard, but he said he wasn't. The other day, he told us he shot a bird down with it. I don't know if that's true or an exaggeration from a young kid's mind.

It makes me nervous because I've seen the way this kid plays and he is reckless. His mom and her boyfriend don't seem to have boundaries for him, or at least they do only when they feel like it. Like yesterday, my kids were playing in the front yard with him (I only let them play with him while I'm there because I don't trust the kid. He says things I don't like sometimes and he gets my kids to do reckless things, like riding on the back of one of his motorized bikes where they could fall off). Anyways, he was riding his motorized bike thing into people's yards and his mom and her boyfriend were inside watching TV. My kids have asked to go into their house because he invited them in and I said no. We have a general rule that they can play outside, but they can't go into anyone's house, but especially this house. They had a dog that they recently got rid of and the boy told my kids that the dog had got into his mom's boyfriends beer and drank it. So that, on top of the guns, the type of music they listen to, etc. makes it a big no for them going in their house. The mom and her boyfriend seem nice enough, but sheesh! Dh has talked to them a few times because he's outside more and he said they're really nice.

But anyways, I am still nervous about this BB gun. I told dh that since he is "buddy buddy" with them, he should talk to them about it because I am thinking about notifying the police. I don't want to do that, but I'm a scared for our safety. Dh laughed and said the police won't do anything about it because "This is Texas!". He said it is a Daisy BB gun, which supposedly only has a little spring and won't do anything. He said the kid showed it to him and he looked at it and just told him to be careful because it can ricochet. I was like, "An 8 yr old boy showed you his gun and that's all you told him?!" He said "It's just a Daisy! We went around shooting each other with those all the time when we were kids! Don't worry about it!" I did look it up online and the general consensus is that these are toys that won't do anything. I tried looking up injuries/deaths from this type of gun online and can't find any (maybe more high powered BB guns, but not the Daisy).

So, should I just stop worrying? He's not a bad kid, he's just reckless, really hyper and doesn't have best examples. He hasn't threatened anyone with the gun or anything crazy like that. He isn't disrespectful. I am thinking about letting it go for awhile and if/when he comes outside when we are out there, I will just ask him if he has his gun outside and make sure he's not using it when we're out there. The one time he had it out there when we were out there, it was sitting on the table and the mom's boyfriend came outside and brought the gun inside. I don't know if he did that just because or it was an "Oops, he shouldn't have this out there, especially with the neighbors outside". I hope it was.

Am I just paranoid and crazy or what? I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone, lol! I know this is Texas, but this isn't a bunch of land in the middle of nowhere. This is a residential neighborhood, with tiny yards!

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Mom to Christian (13), Saphira (10), Xavier (5), and Adrian (2).

Since your dh has already looked the gun over and given some good advice to the boy, I'd let it go. You might be able to be the "extra supervision" this little guy needs to make safe choices. Sounds like a good kid, and he is doing what kids used to do in years gone by before so much made us nervous. I'd let dh be your yardstick on this one.

Our son has had a Daisy BB gun since he was 6 and with proper training, can prove to be a lot of fun for a boy. We live in the country and practice VERY safe BB gun safety rules and our son adheres to them meticulously, or we don't let him use it.

I agree with Pam on this one. Let your hubby lead on this. My dh says Daisy's are harmless and not very high powered. Our son has actually moved up to a higher powered BB gun and we are still very cautious and make sure he adheres to our BB rangemaster's rules AKA, his daddy.

We have some boys in our neighborhood who need a little extra TLC and my hubby and I try to reach out to them by letting them play at our house, share cookies with them, encourage games at our house, but we don't let our son go to their house. Your family may be the only Jesus this boy will see.

Praying for wisdom for you in how to work with your hubby on this one.
" )

Well, I hate to say it, but a couple of the kids in our extended family shot each other with their bb guns. The pellet lodged just under the skin. They were unharmed.

BB guns can do serious damage *once in a long time,* especially if the eyes are involved - I don't think that it is a "nothing" situation. But, on the other hand, probably not more dangerous than kids throwing rocks IMHO.

My Mom always had a gun in the house (one or two regulars & one bb) - she was not even a tiny bit offended when the neighbor announced that her kids couldn't come in our house because she had a gun and that was their safety rule. She thought the rule was unnecessary, but she understood. That might also be a good "out" for why your kids don't go in the neighbor's house.

ON the other hand, those neighbor kids from then on thought our house was the coolest place on the planet, and always tried to find an excuse to come in! ; )

If your neighbor's kid has a BB gun, I'm guessing the parents have a real gun inside that you should be aware of if your kids go over there.

Since you DO live in Texas, I would recommend you and DH get the kids some gun safety classes/or set out to train them yourselves- that way if they encounter this or another neighbor's gun, they won't be so likely to play with it the wrong way out of curiosity. http://www.nrahq.org/safety/eddie/

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http://stuffedveggies.blogspot.com/

Well, I'm definitely glad I posted on here to get some other perspectives. It's funny because when I first found out about the gun, I wasn't as bothered by it. Surprised, but not as bothered. Last night, I was so emotional about it, whining "Deadly bugs, deadly neighbors, I just can't take this place anymore!" I can't trust my emotions on things right now.

Plus, I have no experience with guns. They scare me. I am all for gun rights and would like to own one someday, but they scare me. I haven't had much exposure to them. Dh has a pellet gun that he got after we found the snakes in our yard, that he keeps unloaded in the house. That's the first gun we have bought, but it probably won't be the last. The funny thing is, I mentioned to dh a while back that I wanted ds to have practice using a gun so that he could learn gun safety and not grow up not knowing a thing about them and being afraid of them like I am. He balked at the idea. I guess it's ok for OTHER people's kids, but not OUR kids, lol! We probably will do that someday, though. It would be something fun for dh and ds to do together.

I know the boy's mom and older sister also have a gun. I don't think they're the same kind, but I'm not sure. The mom has talked to dh about the gun she has. I don't know if they had them before the snakes or not. The same snakes that were in our yard, also went into their yard and almost bit the mom. So yeah, I know there are other guns that may be lying around the house. If I knew a person real well and knew they kept guns safely in their home, it probably wouldn't be a problem. But I obviously have reason to believe that's not the case here. That's actually the main reason we don't let them go in other people's houses, especially with this being TX. I've heard too many stories of kids killing each other with loaded guns that were laying around the house. I have no clue what's in people's houses. And after the incident with my son when he was an infant, I worry about my kids getting molested in someone Else's house. Unless it's someone I know and trust real well, they are to stay out. Also, for all I know, MY kids could be in their house acting crazy and I wouldn't even know it or be able to do anything about it. I don't know, are we the only ones with a rule like that? Are we normal? Lol!

I asked dh flat out if he felt safe with our kids being out there when this kid has a gun and he said if it was a pellet gun like his or a different type of BB gun, no, but he's not worried about this one. He's stricter about safety than I am. Sometimes overly strict. I sometimes let the kids do things he would never let them do. So that's why I was surprised about the BB gun thing.

On a side note about guns, I hear that after the shooting at the theater in CO, lots of people are going out and buying guns. I am happy about that. The more guns that are in the hands of responsible citizens, the better. Especially with the threat to gun ownership that is getting worse. That's the key thing, though, responsible citizens.

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Mom to Christian (13), Saphira (10), Xavier (5), and Adrian (2).