The Gun Safety Discussion

After yesterday I decided to broach this issue of going with the pack and throw in the gun safety message again for good measure. Frost and I had been reading a book and were getting on well. Here is the transcript:

Me: Frost, I just wanted to talk about doing things that your friends suggest... you know, like yesterday with the ketchup?

Frost: I always do what people ask me to. If my friends ask me I just say "yes"

Me: But you don't have to do things if you feel they are wrong. I think you are big enough to decide if its a good thing to do.

Frost: But I just say yes because I don't want to hurt their feelings.

Me: Its good that you don't want to hurt their feelings but you can still decide whether its a good thing and say no if it isn't.

Frost: Actually, I only do imaginary things if they ask me. If they said will you kick and punch me I wouldn't do that. I would say "no, I think that would hurt".

Me: Uh huh, and if they said "go and kick the cat" you could say "no" because you know it would hurt the cat.

Frost: Well, if I had an iron foot and a bear was chasing you wouldn't you want me to kick it?

Me: Yes, I guess I would. Another thing - you know how you were joking about guns yesterday?
Well, if you saw a real gun lying around you shouldn't touch it. Just leave it alone and call a grownup.

Frost: I think it would be okay to pick it up. Because you wouldn't just find a gun unless it was after a war and after a war it wouldn't have any bullets left.

Me: Sometimes guns have bullets in after a war and some people have guns in their homes and they might go off if you touch them.

Frost: What if the gun was in a tree?

Me: Then you go away from the tree and call a grownup to get it down.

Frost: It would be even worse if I found dynamite or a bomb!

Me: Yes, you should call a grownup then too.

Frost: I wouldn't get a match and light it like a candle by mistake!