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Section: children, grief-and-loss
 
 

Dear Ann Landers,
Yesterday, we buried our only son. He was 9 years old. Apparently, he found the loaded gun my husband kept in the drawer of his nightstand, and well -- you can guess the rest. Please tell your readers NEVER to leave a loaded gun where a child can reach it. Even better advice, don't have a gun in the house. It won't protect you. The invader is more experienced at shooting, and he will get you before you get him. It is too late for us to protect our son from our carelessness, Ann, but maybe my letter will save someone else's child. -- Grieving in the Midwest

Dear Midwest,
You have written a powerful letter, and I thank you. I hope my readers will give it the attention it deserves.



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A Note from Margo:
Hi! It's Margo here. I'd love to know what you think of the letters -- and the answers!

Also, any additional thoughts you might have. Thanks!

Tammy's Comment
So I shouldn’t keep a gun in my house for protection because your husband was ignorant? Hmmm seems typical these days. The intruder is not “more experienced at shooting” then responsible gun owners because we practice and follow safety guidelines. I’m sorry about her son and I place the blame where it belongs, not on an inanimate object. We have raised 5 kids and had various other kids in an out of our home throughout the years and have never even had a child so much as touch one of our firearms without permission. We also have a lock on our bedroom door and a safe for long guns. A gun, a dog, a knife, the stove……none of these are different. A child should NEVER be left in the room alone with any of these items.

Debra's Comment
My 3 siblings and I were raised in a home with a gun and also a Grandparents house with a gun. NEVER a problem. The answer is educating your children!!!!!!!!!! We knew never to touch the guns. Sure we would open the drawer and look but not touch.

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Reader Comment
Sorry for your loss, but you shouldn't try to take the rights of others because you guys didn't practice good gun safety. You are trying to punish everyone else for your mistake. Take some responsibility instead of blaming others for your mistakes.
 
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Dear Readers,
, S.C.' She said her new husband gets angry over nothing and yells at her for hours on end. She is reluctant to leave this man, because she doesn't want to disrupt the life of her 15-year-old son. As someone who suffered the constant belittling of my stepfather from the age of 6 until I was 12, I can assure that woman her son's life is already being disrupted by the environment she has chosen to remain in. My stepfather couldn't deal with his own problems, so he found an outlet directing his anger at the people around him. I was his prime target. My mother left that abusive man after I broke down in tears and begged her to remove me from what I called 'a living hell.' When she realized that the pain I was experiencing was far worse than her fear of starting over, she finally had the courage to leave him. I am 37 now, and even with years of therapy, I still bristle at the mention of my ex-stepfather's name. 'Sleepless' would be doing her son a big favor if she got out of that hellish situation, and the sooner the better.

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