Teaching Your Kids Firearm Safetly, etc.

[lukem]

Now that I'll be closer to my daughter, who is 10, hopefully going home to New Orleans every month or two, I'll be able to take my daughter shooting and teach her good firearms handling, etc. I'm also going to get my dad to start bringing her since that's who I learned from growing up.

I also have a low level Front Sight membership I'll be pitting in her name so I can bring her out when I go. I think her graduation present will be a Glock.....along with a car probably too, hehe.

Someone asked me if 10 was too young but I didn't think so if done properly. I have no idea how old I was when I first shot a gun but I know it was younger than 10. What do you think?

[DrDavidM]

Glad to hear you will be getting to spend more time with your daughter. I think teaching safety at an early age is very important. I never remember the time that I did not shoot. Enjoy your time with your daughter. :)

[GeneticsDave]

I'm planning on getting my boy (who is not quite 2 yet) out to shoot the Red Ryder BB Gun as soon as he can understand what I am trying to teach him about how to shoot it (I'm guessing about 3 years old). From then it will be a single shot bolt action .22 LR (the mini .22s for kids) at age 5 and then he can shoot any of mine at age 8.

Just FYI, I'm not giving him any of the guns until he is of legal age - I don't want him using them without me right there next to him, but I definitely want him to develop the skills and knowledge he needs in case he ever needs or wants to use a firearm.

Congrats on spending more time with your daughter, I can tell you are looking forward to it.

[Torch]

I started all of my kids at around 5. I bought them each their own 22 when they were old enough to shoot it safely.

[BluesStringer]

We don't have any kids, but I was a kid once myself! Dear ol' Dad split when I was about 1 1/2, so Mom had to find ways to get me around men for the influences she knew were important, but which she also knew she couldn't provide. Back in the early/mid 60's, even in So Cal where I grew up, guns had not yet reached the pinnacle of their demonization. Mom consulted the dads of some of my friends on how to get me involved in "manly" kinds of activities, and the YMCA came up. Started with "Indian Guides" at about 7, and by the time I was 9, I had been through all the junior NRA safety courses which the YMCA sponsored. I got my first .22 rifle that year and Mom would take me down to the Police range, which, back then, was open to the public on weekends, and patiently allow me to "train" her on all the gun safety principals I had learned in the previous couple of years. It wasn't until I was well into adulthood that Mom admitted how uncomfortable she was at that range. She hated the sound of gunfire and never quite trusted that everyone there were law-abiding folk. But she indulged me because, for one thing, it held my interest, and for another, I was a real good shot and some of the instructors advised Mom to get me into competition shooting. Never did do that, mostly because of the expense, but I have never lived a day since then without at least one gun in the house.

I participate on several other forums, one of which is mostly political in nature and has many international participants. The English and Austrailian participants seem to be the most shocked by stories like mine about our exposure at an early age to guns. "Shocked" isn't even a strong enough word to use; "disgusted" or "appalled" is probably more like it. We Americans are fortunate and unique in that regard. I applaud any man who, first, stays in their children's lives and, second, who takes advantage of that unique opportunity that we have to instill a tradition of self-reliance, responsibility and patriotism in them. Your daughter will grow up grateful and closer to you as a result. She's a lucky girl!

Blues

[cedar hill67]

i had a weapon at the age 9,a single shot 22 rifle,as we lived in the high country and no neighbors for 15 miles my dad taught me the right way to handle and shoot a weapon.was taught that it was no toy or plaything,had to clean it after every use and was told that if ever left it loaded there would no more shooting.
i've had rifles,pistols and shotguns for many years and that training has stuck with me as a hunter of big game and birds,i shot my 1st deer at age 14.years later i put my daughter into the youth training class the N.R.A. put on at Raton, new mexico.she handles a weapon today just as they were taught then.so 10 yrs.old is perfect if the training is right,serious and given right they never forget.

[burley]

I started my kids when the oldest was 7 youngest 5. I didn't want any of them left out so they all learned together. We started them on air rifles then moved up to .22s then shotguns. Their first target was a raw egg ( to show them what can happan if safetys not followed). It made a big impression on them at that age. They all enjoy shooting and hunting and own their own firearms. Youngest is 21 now. My kids still remember their safety rules and will make sure those with them follow them too.