The question

"Dad, do you have a rifle?"

That's the question my 6-year-old son asked me about a week ago. We hadn't planned on talking about this with him for another couple of years. You see, we live in New Jersey, so if uses any words or phrases like "gun", "rifle", "bullet", "shoulder thing that goes up", or the like, my wife and I will go to jail, and our kids will end up in foster homes.

But I guess it was a little naive to think that I could hide the word "Rifle" on those targets he sees me carrying when I leave the house with my "tools", especially since our efforts to prevent him from learning how to read have met with such little success.

So my son now knows that I have a rifle, and he's seen one. I haven't gotten him out to the range yet, but he wants to make one go bang, so I'll probably do that sometime soon. He knows that he's not supposed to touch one unless I'm present. I keep them locked up in one container or another all the time they're in the house, but I'm certainly not going to trust him not to figure out how to get into locked container.

(I have to admit, though, I'm not that upset that he asked. I would have told him already if my wife weren't the one who has to put up with school, other parents, etc. She convinced me that it was better not to say anything yet.)