Can You Get Me Some Ice Cream?

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I have an 11-year-old son. Let me tell you, he's basically incapable of handling most things on his own - Kathy still gets his clothes out for him, and he only recently began showering by himself. He's a wonderful kid in every way, but minor tasks are somehow beneath him. He asks me each night to get him some ice cream. He can retrieve the bowl, find the scoop, and reach the ice cream. He can do all of this, but he asks me to help, and usually I do.

I bring all of this up because the 11-year-old in PA. shot his father's girlfriend, and I just can't fathom it ever happening. If it were Jake involved I would have had to help him find the gun, load the gun, and pull the trigger. Which is fortunate! I don't want my children having access to guns, or even the thought that they can do such a thing.

I feel so badly for that family, and I pray for the child, but I must ask the question - should an 11-year-old have gun access? I've shot a gun once in my life. It was a .44 Magnum registered to my brother-in-law and I asked him to shoot it so that I could write about it in one of my books. When I pulled the trigger and sent a shot into the side of a hill, I nearly crapped my pants.

The sound, the kick, and the amazing power was too much for a wimp like me to handle. I can't imagine being 11 and shooting at a live human being.

Now certainly there is something wrong there. I do realize that some kids are brought up around guns and most carry a healthy respect all through their lives. Yet every once in a while a story like this takes the headline.

Not here. My kids will not carry a firearm as long as I can help it. It might mean that I have to get the ice cream until they're about 35 years old, but I'll gladly do that. I'd rather be a live wimp than a dead tough guy.

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