Off The Grid News Better Ideas For Off The Grid Living
Dear Editor,
As the parent of a young child, it is important for me to keep my guns and ammo put away safely so that there is no chance my son will accidentally hurt himself. However, in a self-defense situation, I don’t want to have to spend precious seconds or minutes fumbling around as I try to unlock and load my gun. Is there a way to keep my guns away from my child but still have them easily accessible to me in an emergency?
M.C.
Dear M.C.
I raised my children before products like we have available to us today were around. Before I go into a possible solution to your situation, let me suggest a few things first.
First of all, teach your children to respect firearms. Our children (a boy and two girls) were taught that guns were weapons and not toys. Children are naturally curious about the forbidden, so as soon as they are able, take all the mystery out of the equation. When my children were old enough, my husband sat with them and showed them how to shoot a pistol. As soon as we felt they were responsible, we purchased BB guns for them and spent time with them shooting. (They were not allowed to have the guns alone. The guns were in the closet in our bedroom and only when their daddy was with them could they take them out.) When my youngest daughter was nine years old, she shot her first turkey with a 410 shotgun.
But the one thing that permeated all of these lessons was respect. Our children were not allowed in our bedroom (where we kept our guns). Discipline was swift and meted out at the first sign of disobedience. They learned that if either of us said something, it was like it came through the burning bush and they had better listen. With that kind of self-control instilled in them early in life, it was much easier for them to accept “No” when it came to boundaries with firearms. Because they weren’t allowed free access to our bedroom, they were unaware that there was a loaded pistol tucked between the mattress and box springs so that, in the event of an intruder, a gun was within easy reach.
However, all it takes is one second of distraction and that blazing curiosity of a child to culminate in tragedy. I do think there is an additional safeguard that you can use to keep your children safe and your guns under wraps without sacrificing response time when needed. It’s the Solutions From Science Drag and Draw Gun Vault. It has a unique, biometric fingerprint recognition system. When you get the vault, you follow the instructions for storing up to nine unique fingerprints to access the weapon stored inside (it has an amazing false acceptance rate of .0001). When you need the pistol, you simply swipe your finger across the scanner, and in less than one second, you have your pistol in hand.
Because we now have grandchildren running around the house and because I’m more easily distracted as I get older than I was as a young mother, I have one of these gun vaults to store our home defense weapon in, and the quality of materials and construction is unsurpassed. I would recommend the gun vault in addition to the constant reinforcement that guns are weapons, not toys, and allowing your children to become familiar with them as soon as you feel they’re ready so that the mystery and allure of the weapon is taken away as soon as possible.
The Editor
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Dear Editor
Recently I received a pressure canner and purchased the Food Storage Secrets DVD. I’ve learned a lot and I love trying out foods to can. Today, as I was making split pea soup, I was looking at the 1/2 bag of peas left over and wondered….can I can these? Has anyone out there tried to can dried peas, beans, bread crumbs, etc.? I know you wouldn’t be cooking them, only making a vacuum, insect- proof package for longer storage if you don’t have room to store them in the freezer.
Thank you,
J-
Dear J-
There’s no need to go through the canning process to store dried peas, beans, or any other dried food in a Mason jar. Those bags of dried peas that you buy at a grocery store haven’t been vacuum packed in any way, and by the time they’re put on your grocery store shelves, they’re several years old. However, lack of moisture and oil content is critical in successful long-term storage of dried foods. You can use oxygen and moisture absorbers to maintain an oxygen-free environment in your jars, but the moisture and oil content should be less than 10% because removing the oxygen from high-moisture food will create the environment for botulism (an organism that grows in an oxygen-free environment). If you’re interested in learning more about long-term dried food storage, this webpage has some very valuable information: https://www.usaemergencysupply.com/information_center/packing_your_own_food_storage/oxygen_absorbers_and_long_term_food_storage.htm There are some excellent links within that page that give even more detailed information.
The Editor