I worked with kids in a detention center for five years. We had a kid who had been raised properly with guns, and yet behaved very inappropriately with them. His parents seemed to be very responsibile and diligent, and their other 5 kids (he was second youngest) had never gotten into any trouble with guns or otherwise. This kid just had a morbid fascination with guns - and using them inappropriately.

If I were this kid's parents, I would definitely want to know if there were guns in a house I was going to let him visit. If this kid were visiting my home, I would definitely want to know that he had an inappropriate gun fetish. The lines between the desire and right to know, the right to ask, the right to be answered honestly... it can all become very fuzzy.

To lily - I don't think a 3 year old counts as someone who's cognizant. It's a horrific experience, to be sure, but you can't really teach a 3 year old not to touch themselves, let alone a gun. At three, they still need constant supervision. So...I don't know. I just don't think you can say that a 3 year old was taught gun safety, really...

I have to question that study though. It also uses "gun safety" is a very broad sense. What is "gun safety"? For me, it's a child seeing, touching, watching, hearing a gun. Knowing what it is capable of. Understanding that it is, under no circumstance, something to be touched lightly. My girls won't touch our gun, or my father's gun(s) even if they found them. They won't touch knives, or lighters.

I looked up the NRA's definitions of gun safety and they are severely lacking.

There's also a correlation between the increase in gun safety programs, and a decrease in violent crimes - although we all know correlation does not, necessarily, equate to causation. Here an officer insists that they are correlated, though.

Altari, that was my point. I was not aware that there was a gun in that home that was accessible to a 3 yr. old. The father adamantly felt that he had taught his son about guns and that absolutely the child wouldn't touch one! He was wrong! I also think if a 3 yr. old will play with one, so will older kids if they get a chance. BTW, I was watching the child, I had no idea that the father felt a good hiding place for a gun was under his bed!

Back in my childhood, I was sitting in the back seat of the car with my two brothers when one of my brothers reached under the seat of the driver's and pulled out a gun to play with. My mother saw this in time and snatched it from him. (He was very young)....turns out my father not only kept it loaded, but didn't even have the safety lock on. Mind you, this is the same guy who has spent 16 years in the military here...

I personally detest guns and will not have anything to do with them. However, I respect the rights of others to have them. In terms of the gym asking, I would have left that blank. They did not need to know, period.

In terms of sending children over to other houses to play, I do think a parent has every right to ask first if there are some things in other houses that a child may get a hold of and thus harm themselves and others with. Too many examples in the media of children killing other children with guns exist here to not ask. Now the parent can refuse to answer this question, which is their right. It would also be my right to keep my child away from this house due to safety issues as well. In the end, we can all work together to creat a safe and fun environment for the children without causing a feud here.

As for the issue of teaching children about guns, I fully support the idea that all children take at least one gun safety class at some point in their childhood (when they are old enough to understand). Keep in mind though that you will always have a few who are just dunderheads here.....like my father...

I find it bizarre that you were asked that question. On the topic of kids going to houses with guns, however, I think a parent has every right to know whether or not that home has a gun in it. I choose not to have a gun in my home, so when I have kids (I have one on the way), I want to know if they will be around a gun, just as I would want to know if they would be around anything else that is dangerous. Obviously, I have knives in my kitchen and other things that are dangerous, but my kid will know about those things because they will be part of his/her home. A gun will NOT be part of his/her home, so I need to know if he/she may make contact with one (God forbid). I sincerely believe people have the right to own guns and all that and can make their own choices. What confuses me is when people disagree with background checks or other gun safety laws. If you have something shady in your background, you probably should no longer have the privilege of owning one. You abuse privileges -- you lose rights. Or that's how it should be, but in most cases it isn't. And yes, I know that criminals can still get guns if they want to. That still doesn't explain why your average consumer objects to background checks. I guess I just don't get it.

I find that very bizarre that the survey that you took through your gym online even asked you that. I consider that none of their business. My husband and I have about 8 guns, two handgun and the rest are shotgun,and rifles. We do keep them locked up in a gun safe and the ammo locked up in a separate place as well. My husband has had gun experience growing up as a child hunting and has taken a gun safety class but I haven't. He's recently bought three of them and the rest were family guns that were finally passed on to him. But my husband has coached me on what to do. I do intend on taking a gun safety class that also teaches you how to shoot soon. We have also found a gun range near us that is open later on thursday nights when I'm off work that we are going to start going to for me to practice this coming week. As for other parents needing to know if you own a gun I'm not going to get into that subject or the other topics that have been brought up in this thread. I really don't have an opinion since I don't feel like I'm educated enough yet about gun safety to have one.

Ok, Million Mom March-symps like me and Second Amendment Sisters can pull out stats that support our biases from now until the judgment day. We can agree, however, that a question about whether we use guns or not has no place on a user's questionnaire for a fitness club, right?

thank you Another...my sentiments exactly. I was like, "how in the world did this get turned into a gun discussion" lol. but then again, that's the beauty of the boards...

I totally agree that a fitness club has no business knowing if you have a gun or not. That's my story and I'ma stickin' to it.

An inventory of anything other than the food in your kitchen is none of their business.

I agree this shouldn't be part of your gym questionaire but, from an insurance/underwriting/actuarial perspective, owning a gun makes you statistically more likely to be injured or killed by a gun that a person who does not own a gun. Arguable? Sure, but they crunch the numbers to determine the risks and set the rates. There's no non-gun owner discount on your life or health insurance, you'll notice. I hardly think it's a pivotal factor in their calcs.

The cutesy little quizzes on life insurance websites about how long you can plan to live include gun ownership in their calculation as well. My guess is that they're just using a standard form to assess risk in general that was created by another company.

My fiance is talking about joining Snap. Guess I should tell him not to go packing heat

The "cutesy little quiz" thing makes the most sense. Someone at the gym probably plucked it from a magazine like Cosmo or Woman's World. I've belonged to health clubs and gyms that included these kinds of things in in the monthly newsletter, and that is what I assume the intention was. However, I would still consider it inappropriate for the gym staff to require the survey to be completed, keep it as part of your membership file, or even see your response.

They shouldn't have asked that, but maybe they are concerned with your mental health. There are a ton of people out there that commit suicide over petty things and maybe they are afraid that some people may kill themselves over their weight. I don't know, I wouldn't have answered it and I would've talked to a manager about the questions that they were asking

Just wanted to chime in. After reading this post I searched Snap Fitness, found one in my area, went over and joined pn the spot after my tour. I LOVED the relaxed atmophere and the convenience of the 24 hour key card! I just wanted to thank you for a great rec...even though you weren't really recommedning them

I agree that many of the questions they ask (besides the hand gun question) really aren't any of their business.

That said, if you had answered that you were being abused, or were considering self-harm of any sort, I'm quite certain their concerns would be increased for your personal safety...of course, when you're a semi annually, range qualified, fire arms owner, then you obviously take your personal safety seriously and responsibly.

I've had occassion to work with a young guy who bought a hand gun for his wife for safety. Interestingly, one day he came out of the baby's bedroom carrying the child, and there was his wife with the handgun. She told him to put the child down and come back out (which he did). Then she aimed at his chesst and shot him (at point blank range) in the arm. He ran out of the house and she chased him around the neighborhood trying to finish him off until the police came. Obviously she was NOT trained (or she'd have actually hit where she was aiming) and she did NOT use the weapon responsibly. Just a personal anectdote...by the way, the couple stayed together.

I understand how seatbelt usage or talking on the phone while driving impacts your personal safety (if you're responsible vs not responsible). I can imagine that responsible vs not responsible use of a fire arm is another indicator. (You're in the mid-west, you probably know the "dangers of deer camp" when guys go out drinking and hunting. Scares the bujeezers out of me! But it's the irresponsible useage vs responsible.)

I have to admit, I don't like answering a bunch of questions for people I don't know. I'd prefer to create a "person to person" relationship. Then I can decide how much information I trust that person with.

I think it's important to remember that just because someone asks you a question (whether verbally or in writing) doesn't mean you have to answer it. If you find a question embarassing, offensive, or just plain none of their business - don't answer, leave it blank, or ask whether and why they need the information. If they refuse to serve you because you refuse to answer a question, take your business elsewhere and/or if you wish to contact an attorney to see if you have legal resource.