I have no kids and never will (hideously ugly) but my theory is that you teach a kid about guns after they have been champing at the bit to learn for several years. I was fascinated by the power and noise I felt and heard the first time I was with my father when he was sighting-in his '06 for a deer hunt. I was about 6 at the time and it was an entirely new experience for me. I didn't get to fire a shot until I was 17 in the summer of 1975, then didn't own my first gun, a Colt AR-15 SP-1, until Spring of 1983. I now own more than I need and fewer than I want, but that's another story...



A kid needs to understand the power of a gun to do damage to his surroundings. To tell him that he is responsible for what he does with it means nothing to a kid. Maybe a good way to impress upon a kid that a bullet can go through a car is to go to a junkyard or someplace where an old car is and shoot a few holes through the doors and windows. Show him the exit holes on the inside of the door. This should wash the foolishness of the A-Team TV show right out of him. Have him stand to the side of a .223 or .308 rifle as it is fired and let him feel the pressure wave and hear the sound. Teach him that even a .22 cal bullet hits like being run over by a bus. Shoot some gallon milk jugs or bottles of soda and relate the results to what would happen to a human body. Shoot a groundhog or gopher with a hollow-point bullet and show him the eviscerated results. If he is smart, he'll realize what can result if carelessness with a gun is the order of the day. If he's an idiot, he'll be fascinated by the show and want to show his friends when you're not around. To avoid a potential tragedy, you will have to have been an excellent parent long before it occurs. G. Gordon Liddy relates that he didn't teach his kids about guns until each of them was 12. Before that, they were told not to touch them under any circumstances. No doubt his kids respected their father and today they are all very successful, as listeners to his how can attest.



In the final analysis, the age at which a kid begins shooting is the decision of the parent, based upon the parent's assessment of the kid's emotional and psychological ability to understand what using a gun really means. Just my opinion...



Something else I thought about... The video games kids play today have reduced death and destruction to colorful, high-end graphics and wavetable sound effects. Killing isn't killing anymore, it's play and scores and power-ups and reloads and extended lives. I doubt most twelve year-olds know what death really is. To them, resurrection is a simple restarting of the game and away we go for more Grand Theft Auto or whatever. I am worried about our next generation...

Rootbeer I agree with you 100% onyour views I make a living out of shootin/hunting & my kids &step kids all were started with fire arm saftey from about 3yrs old and shooting from about 8yrs It is true what you say about these acursed play station games! I have taken a friend of my 11yr son out on the range for a shot &soon found that the child could not distingwish between the gun he used on the game &the hand gun I let him fire. This to me is a worring trend

My children learned about guns from a very young age. My thought was, they should know how to safely handle a gun, and guns shouldn't be a mystery.

What I can't control is access to guns at their friends house, so I want to be darn sure there is no desire to sneak a peak at a gun that isn't locked up at someone elses house. I've done this by both telling them that if they see a gun at a friends house, they leave immediately and tell an adult. And also by allowing them to handle my guns, under my supervision on a regular basis.

I also agree with you 100% Paul we have no control over other people or how they choose to store &handle firearms but it is up to us to educate our and anybodies eelses childern (&some adults) who come into contact with our firearms

A kid's education should begin as soon as he/she is able to sit up and take nourishment and last as long as a person is able to do the same.

My seven year old son cut his teeth on a ruger 10/22.His gun is now a cut down cz .22 bolt action.

I started with a pellet rifle. It teaches the basics of firearm safety, are fairly cheap, and if something does go wrong, it most likely will be less than deadly. After the pellet rifle, a 10/22 is not a bad choice. I would say 7 for the pellet rifle, perhaps 10 for the real thing as far as age.

I've got a Old rem boys rifle (falling block) that was made in those days before political correctness! I've always started kids off on this rifle (.22) depending on their maturity normaly 8-9yrs old. and the tried and tested .410 shot gun

This is a subject that I take very seriously, with a 2 year old girl and a boy on the way, I have been pondering this a lot lately. Gun was the first word that I ever spoke, so guns in general have been a pretty big deal to me for quite some time. I also am disturbed by the Nintendo generation's flip attitude toward shooting things (specifically people) and the reset button making it all better. I still vividly remember the first squirrel I shot and the feeling of joy and remorse all at the same time that I ended the life of the animal. It taught me a great deal of respect for the power I had at my finger tips. So hunting will be a big part of teaching firearms safety. I am not sure that I will be able to put an age to it because all kids are different from a maturity standpoint. great thread.

gabe

I think you've all got it about right. A child should learn about guns as soon as they show any interest. Curiosity without knowledge can be a dangerous thing!
I firmly believe, however in starting them with a single shot, if possible one that requires both, loading and cocking. Barring that, a bolt action rifle will suffice if used only as a single loader. (I prefer a single shot or a magazine blank.)
This comes from having taught several hundred kids to shoot in years of working and running a Jr rifle club. Only when they have achieved the size, age and skills required for hunting should they be introduced to magazines.

When my girls were very young I bought the NRA Eddie Eagle video aimed a young viewers. My girls can still chant the "Stop - Don't touch - Leave the area - Tell an adult" jingle that sticks in your mind. When they expressed some interest, I started them on a CO² air rifle, at the range, against targets. I wanted them to learn good range manners as well so shooting was at the range. When they started blowing out the X rings I let them shoot my Colt Single Action Peacemaker in .22 long rifle as a first pistol. They are now young women and only sometimes want to go to the range with me. When they do, they tend to do things like pick up pistol they have never fired before and clear the bowling pins in five shots faster than a few of the guys who shoot every week. It's hard on the macho crowd.

I've owned a BB gun since I was 4.

What my father did to teach me to respect "larger" firearms, is let me shoot a 12 guage 3" 00 buck, by myself, at age 4. I didn't touch a shotgun again until I was at least 12 or 13.

I've had BB guns and pellet guns all my life growing up.

For my own son now, I've chosen a little different approach. I just took a cantelope and stood it on a fencepost, and told Sean to think of that like a human head, then I shot it with a .44 mag 300 grain XTP to show him what that gun would do to the "head". That got the point across to him I hope.

He's seen firsthand what guns can do to deer and such though, and he understands that dead is dead - no second chances.

I don't make any big deal about guns around the house around my family though. They're just tools, and that's the way I treat them.

i was 6 or 7 when i got my first bb gun

My first use of a fire arm was around 4 or 5 my dad helping me shoot a Remington rolling block 22 target pistol.

Fire arm saftey starts at avery early age. I begain with my children as soon as they could walk.

Well, here's my philosophy about kids and guns-

To begin with, my kids (now 6,8, and almost 11) never, ever had ANY toy guns until about a year ago when the 8 y.o. wanted a dart gun from reading "Calvin & Hobbes". I think toy guns are one of the most dangerous and inappropriate toys that children are given. Because of course, give a kid a toy gun and what is the first thing he does with it?

Anyway, after that I made sure that for the first few years they also did not watch violent videos (Disney is bad for this BTW), so for example my kids never watched the Tarzan cartoon, etc.

What is hilarious about this approach is if you ever get into a conversation with other parents and first they are shocked that I hunt, then they are horrified that I actually keep firearms in the house, then I lay it on them that what there are in the house is NO TOY GUNS! If you really want to lay it on other parents, explain that all of your guns are locked up and it is important that if your kids visit the other persons house you would appreciate it if they took the same precautions and gathered up ALL the toy guns in the other house. Then let them try to defend their position. Bring up the topic of when kids find a gun and one shoots another, what are they doing when the shot happens? Point out that this also happens when someone finds a gun on the street, so it does not just happen in someone elses house. Same thing with violent video games or movies. They never seem to bring the subject up after that.

It seems to be working, my oldest son now likes to go hunting with me, and has brought up that Turkey season is only a few months away and he wants to do that too. The other 2 started shooting a year ago and enjoy it. We usually use 22 shorts.

I got my first 22 when I was 8, and pretty much had the run of the fields, but I didn't have TV at that time so that may have affected how I behaved with it. Oh yeah, I never had that many bullets though, a box would probably last a couple months.

My dad tells me he had me sitting on his lap shooting a pellet gun when I was 3 or 4. He had a pellet trap in the basement of our house at that time. I guess I started kind of young.

Started my son with a .22LR at age 6 and a shotgun at age 9.

Started my two boys out with a .22 revolver which I helped hold til I was comfortable with them handling it.

They were both 4. By the time the oldest was 6 he was loading and shooting my blackhawk .30carbine full loads by the hundreds while we sat ten feet behind him and watched. He did the loading and unloading etc.

Main thing is to teach them: no matter what, if they need to ask a question, something goes wrong, or any other reason. To LAY THE GUN DOWN, then turn and ask. After that, I showed them about making damned sure their second hand was below and behind the cylinder. This was demonstrated by wrapping a paper/target around the gun and firing off one shot while they watched. Mighty impressive to do that. Plumb scary too.
Bigger guns will nearly blow the paper in half. I do this with every newer shooter, or anyone I'm not sure that has seen that demo yet.

Then they went to a .22, same as I did.

George

i don't know how old i was when my dad gave me my first gun, he has some pictures of me in my crip sitting next to it. i don't remember the model, its an old single shot remington .22lr. i still have it, and still shoot it from time to time.
the first time i shot the gun i was 2. needed some help, but that was the first time. been going strong ever since.

My son was gripping a S&W 686 when he was less than one year old. He shot a 44 mag T/C when he was 4 years old (I was gripping the barrel and the base of the grip and he gripped the upper part of the grip and pull the trigger). His reaction: "Dad it kicks too much. Give me the 45 (45 ACP)". That happened more than 15 years ago. I still have a picture of him "aiming" with a 44 mag. Ruger Redhawk.
Lefteris.

My daughter is 2. She shoots a bow and arrow at the TV with a little help (suction cup arrows). She owns a little Rossi 22/410 shotgun combo, but she hasn't shot those yet.

I think archery is a good first thing to learn shooting at. The kid sees the arrow fly through the air, and where it hits on the target is obvious. Also, no loud "bang" and no recoil to speak of.

H. C.

Interesting thread and interesting views on this subject. A subject that should be brought up more and done more rather than talked about, I mean hands on.
My daughter started shooting when she was about 4 or5. She shot some off and on until about the age of 10, then the hormones kicked in and a few years later started looking at boys. Now she could care less, or so she says.
The son started shooting at about the same age. The kid is a pretty good shot and judge of diastance for just turning 11.
He is, or should say was more inclined to stay home and play those blasted video games rather than go to the range. He started messing up in school and ALL of the video games got sent to his mothers house, or they would have been tossed in the garbage. The only plus side I can actually say that video games give a person is hand eye cordination. Those "black boxes" in the homes of today are the downfall of a lot of kids, IMHO.
I believe if you want to show a kid what a bullet will do, it should be done in a hunting situation. At least show them the carcass and what the out come is. The son was simply amazed and some what shocked at what that little bitty 25 cal 117 grain bullet did to a deer at 300+ yards. I had shot everything under the sun trying to explain to him about the shock,expansion and so forth. Water jugs, ballons, bars of soap, etc. You will laugh at this, but the kid refered back to it. "looks like pond mud" was his reaction stament. Meaning, that on several occasions I have shot at the offside of the pond in to that heavy slimy mud and it leaves a big nasty hole.
For a young lad of his age he has more guns that are his than I did at 3 times that age. He shoots them all very well and I just now have him loading for them. That was a good lesson to show him why he really needed to pay attention in math class.
I have had guns around me all of my life, my kids have too. They are not curious to them as seeing it as somthing "new" because they never handled one. I recall one gun show that the two us were at. A gentleman had a couple of tables of very high end shotguns and a sprinkling of rifles. There was a Merkel, I believe. shotgun on the table and the son was eyeballing it and asking the gent a few questions, never touched it. His question was why was it so expensive. The man told him if it was all right with me to have him pick it up. Before the kid did the first thing he asked was how to open it to make sure it was unloaded. The gent assured him it WAS unloaded. The son told him that no sir, they are all loaded. Long story short, we were at that table for about an hour and the gentleman made sure the kid layed his hands on everygun on the table. The bad thing is I am not a shotgun person, the kid has aquired a taste for high end shotguns, not that he has one just a taste.
Jeff

Sometimes the reality of what damage a high velocity bullet or shot load does to the human anatomy drives the point home. It isn't like cowboys and indians--no "Bang, I got you!" followed by "No, you missed! Bang, got you!"

The photo at this link is not for the squeamish (really, it's not), but shows very graphically why we must all PREACH, PREACH, PREACH AND PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE firearms safety every second that guns are out of the safe! Sometimes shooting a water-filled milk jug is enough, but sometimes it isn't, and once is too many for it not to be enough.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a276/dustoffer/huntingaccident.jpg

A few things:

I think kids should be exposed to gun safety at the earliest age. My son isn't yet 3, but he's a sponge and everything I say and do he takes as fact. I've let him shoulder guns. I've let him touch them with my permission. I say over and over you never touch unless I or another adult says it's ok. At 12, they are just way too influenced by other factors already.

Seeing the damage a gun can do is also a good idea. A hole in paper for a kid is a hole in the paper no matter if its from a BB or a .30-06. Seeing the damage is very impressionable.

On toy guns, I don't like the idea. To me, a gun, any gun should never be pointed at anything you don't intend to destroy. Honestly, I don't like the paintball and even water gun (the ones that really look like guns) idea either.

quote:

Originally posted by Ben589:
I've owned a BB gun since I was 4.

What my father did to teach me to respect "larger" firearms, is let me shoot a 12 guage 3" 00 buck, by myself, at age 4. I didn't touch a shotgun again until I was at least 12 or 13.

I've had BB guns and pellet guns all my life growing up.

For my own son now, I've chosen a little different approach. I just took a cantelope and stood it on a fencepost, and told Sean to think of that like a human head, then I shot it with a .44 mag 300 grain XTP to show him what that gun would do to the "head". That got the point across to him I hope.

He's seen firsthand what guns can do to deer and such though, and he understands that dead is dead - no second chances.

I don't make any big deal about guns around the house around my family though. They're just tools, and that's the way I treat them.

Good approach Ben. I remember Grandpa finally responding to my pestering to 'have a shot' with the .410 'snake gun'. He went out into the shed, got an old gallon can (hefty metal construction!) filled it with water, and told me to punch it.
I did, as hard as I could. He laughed at me, and said that was no good, hit it again. This time I put everything I had into it, barely dented it and smeared blood and skin all over the dent, not incidentally stinging the hell out of my hand.
He then walked over to the fencepost, put the tin on top, walked back and put one round of 410g through the can, blowing it to bits.
The lesson I took away was that regardless of how hard you may think you can hit, guns hit harder, and a damn sight more permanently.
Also, there were never any toy guns in the house, Grandpa said guns were tools, not toys, and to use them as such would reinforce the wrong impression.

I think he had the right idea.
And I will probably use his method to teach my daughter, before she gets her own gun.
I'll have to be carefull with the tin can though, she can already smash 3 stacked tiles in karate.

I started my sons at age 5 with BB guns. Like most boys they were naturals. They took the New Mexico hunters safety at ages 11 and 9. The youngest scored a 39 out of 40 on the written test beating the rest of us. They have been shooting regularly ever since.

I started my daughter at 18 when she asked to learn. Seems a certain boy she knows likes to shoot so she felt she needed to learn.

they need to be taught as early as possibly but as far as shooting i make them wait till about 12yrs old to shoot by them selves

My Dad started me on the addiction at 5 with a BB gun that I shot while he shot the "big guns". At 8 I converted to the 22lr and since then it has been a growing recoil fest.

I was taught all about the safety aspect before I touched a firearm and still get the preaching a lot. I carry a pistol more often than not so it's always good to get a reality check from someone else.

As far as the video games and "cheapening" death and killing I disagree. As long as a parent is a parent and does the hard work of teaching a game will continue to be a game and real life is just that. Besides don't let your kids sit in the house that much so they can play video games. I've had game consoles since the first nintendo's came out and upgraded systems a few times a long the way but getting outside has always been choice number one. Who got me outside? Do I have to say.

Both my daughters shoot .22's. My oldest will be getting a .223 this year. They are 8 and 5. I think it is not so much an age thing as a maturity thing. I will not take my 8yr. old nieces shooting yet because of that. Hopefully this year though, once I get back home.

quote:

Originally posted by halvey:At 12, they are just way too influenced by other factors already.

halvey,
This is what I am facing now. My fiancee has a 11 yo boy that I need to introduce to firearms and up to now his education has been limited to TV and video games. I think his cub scout pack shot bb guns but if so they didn't leave an impression. When I first showed him some of my guns (except the pistol I carry they all stay in the safe) he made like he was holding an imaginary assault rifle/subgun/machine gun and did the "bam-bam-bam-bam" thing. We talked about how he shouldn't touch a gun unless his mom or I was there and said it was OK and if his friends were playing with guns he needed to leave, he gave me north-south (the head bob) but I wonder. I haven't had a chance to take him to the range (unfortunately it is so built up here I can't take him the back yard with an air rifle) but hope to fix that shortly. Since we don't have anywhere to do the air rifle I am tempted to just start him with .22's. I wanted to take him to something like the Appleseed shoots put on by rwva.org (there's one coming up in March near here) but I'm not sure he is ready for it. We'll see how he does at the range with the .22, I hope he will if nothing else I can teach him a respect for the weapons. Right now my trust has the guns going to my best friend (at the time they would eventually go to his daughter) and I don't plan on changing that until I think he will be responsible enough to handle them.

Hi gentlemen,

please follow my son from age 6 to 13 in the pictures. He is my best little buddy and a prize that I'm very proud of. He has been trained to handle guns safely but I am always with him. He has the potential to be a great hunter.

Let me add.

Austin started out with the little 22. I was afraid he'd get his eye put out with a bb gun."^) I cut the 410 to the size of a toy gun. I later put a red dot scope on it and added the pad to make it longer. he took two does with it during the youth hunts. He has growed rapidly so he now shoots a t-bolt and a 1100 20 ga. I cut down the mini 14 and put a red dot scope on it. I am always with him and really don't worry about him using an automatic. We only use two loaded rounds in the gun and I watch him like a hawk. His last deer, a buck he shot with a 30-06 as the battery had gone dead in his scope. I handed him my rifle which he had shot plenty of time before. He never noticed the recoil.

I've taught hunter's safety for 10 years here in NY where the law requires you to be 12 before you're allowed to even touch a firearm. We allow 11 year olds to take the course but they are limited to useing an air rifle. I've taught people twice the legal age who I wouldn't be comfortable hunting with and I've also seen a younger sibling of an 11 year old sit and hang on every moment of instruction like he was the one taking the course. He even raised his hand and answered a few questions. Maturity in general is a hard thing to quantify but after taking a safety course there is usually no doubt who can and who can't handle the responsibility of safely handling a firearm. I shoot woth the military an an almost daily basis and believe that half the people who I see should never be able to posess a weapon with out an instructor observing. Thankfully there are a lot of jobs in the military that do not requiree this.