What age do you train your kids and allow them access to lethal home defense weaponry?

[.455_Hunter]

Pretty simple discussion- Given the current climate in 2020 and seemingly expanding threat matrix, at what age would you train your kids in home defense and give them access to the tools necessary to complete the task?

We have all seen the stories about the young teen home alone or with siblings who have defended themselves successfully- When do you make that possible for your family? Or do you believe such action are irresponsible are more likely to result in tragedy?

Longgun or Handgun? CO law specifically allows for youth handgun possession "When on property under the control of the person's parent, legal guardian or grandparent with the permission of such person's parent, legal guardian or grandparent; or when at the person's residence, with the permission of the person's parent or legal guardian, for the purpose of lawful self-defense."

Please comment and discuss.

[glock74]

My son is only 6, but I’m thinking 15 or 16.

[eddiememphis]

My Dad taught my older sisters and myself very young how to handle a firearm. I was six the first time I shot his Western Field (Montgomery Wards) .22 bolt action. We always knew where the guns were and that we weren't allow to touch them except in an emergency.

Having guns in the house wasn't a big deal. We know where the bullets were and how to load and shoot them safely. Never really gave it much thought as a kid. Granted, there wasn't the constant barrage of gun hysteria in the mid 70's that there is today.

And when I was 10 and got my very own .22 lever action, I was in Heaven!

I say, the sooner the better. Kids exposed to firearms early won't have to have any biases broken.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Old-Card-Dump/i-wWkfHRD/0/fd4147ae/M/DSC00037-M.jpg

8 year old nephew shooting clay pigeons with a BB gun. Kid went on the be a helicopter paramedic in the Army.

[TEAMRICO]

Trained my son to use an AR both stationary and on the move at age 8. Handgun training around 10 and he knows the rules of engagement for accessing the revolver when we are out. He is 15 now and is my assistant when I teach scouts for the rifle and shotgun merit badges.
They need to learn at the youngest age possible.

[RblDiver]

I've been wondering this myself, good feedback here. My girlfriend has a 4 year old daughter. I'm a bit worried the GF is slightly anti-gun from some older Facebook posts, but it hasn't come up yet. If they eventually move in with me, I plan on introducing the girl to the guns in a "I will gladly show you them whenever you want, but you must not touch them on your own" sort of way, then when she's a bit older teaching her how to shoot.

[battlemidget]

There's a difference between recreational shooting and training for self/home defense. They should watch Home Alone and A Christmas Story, that'll learn em.

[.455_Hunter]

There is a total different REALM between taking junior out to shoot some pop cans and giving them training/access to weapons for defense. In my case, that happened at age 13 to 14, including revolver, break-shotgun and bolt action rifle.

[hurley842002]

I've been wondering this myself, good feedback here. My girlfriend has a 4 year old daughter. I'm a bit worried the GF is slightly anti-gun from some older Facebook posts, but it hasn't come up yet. If they eventually move in with me, I plan on introducing the girl to the guns in a "I will gladly show you them whenever you want, but you must not touch them on your own" sort of way, then when she's a bit older teaching her how to shoot.

With all due respect, I can't imagine I would "go steady" with a gal, let alone be talking about having her move in with me, and not know where she stood on important issues.


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[battlemidget]

I tend to think that as soon as they're strong enough to reliably control the action and recoil. I've seen youth 'shooting stands', that's essentially a vertical 2x2 with a series of horizontal holes and a moveable dowel through the appropriate height hole to help youngsters hold up a rifle.

[bczandm]

I think it really depends on the child. There are many adults my age (58) that I wouldn't want to know where my firearm is stored in the house. I also know many teenagers that likely could be trusted. "Access" requires thoughtfulness, maturity and the ability to logically and quickly make decisions. In my opinion you really need to evaluate each child individually and make a decision based upon their individual "worthiness".

[gnihcraes]

Wait until some other person calls safe2tell and anonymously reports your teen left school to commit suicide. Changed my mind a bit on what was at home and accessible. Thankfully it was a false report. It still caused a ton of issues though.

Most things are locked up when I'm not home. Home alarm system can text me when certain things are opened. At least I know, but doesn't mean I'm able to do much bout it from work though.

Kids were taught safe handling while young, 6 or 8. Hunter safety a few years later helped too.

One option is to leave something available, but they don't know it. If they call with an emergency need, tell them where to find it. Or how to open quick safe etc.






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[WETWRKS]

It isn't an age thing...it is a maturity thing. When is a child mature enough to handle being taught to shoot. That all depends on the individual child.

I was shooting at about 6 or 7. Shot my first 12 gauge at 9.

There are adults that I don't allow to handle a firearm that I have personally cleared as they cannot be trusted with even an empty firearm.

[BushMasterBoy]

Take the child to a range. Shoot with them. Buy them books on firearms safety.Take them hunting small game. Have them take the Hunter Safety education course. ad infinitum...

[.455_Hunter]

Take the child to a range. Shoot with them. Buy them books on firearms safety.Take them hunting small game. Have them take the Hunter Safety education course. ad infinitum...

I agree with all the above for general shooting, but when do you jump from that to defense?

There is a big logic disconnect going from what's taught in the target/plinking/hunting regeime to the self-defense and defense of others regieme.

[eddiememphis]

There is a total different REALM between taking junior out to shoot some pop cans and giving them training/access to weapons for.defense.

If you are talking about gearing up and hunting bad guys, you are correct.

If you are talking about a bad guy kicking at your door, which you talked about in your first post, then I see less of a difference.

When there is a fire, you have steps to take. Close your door. Open your window, leave the house.

When there is a bad guy, you have steps to take. No need for camo vests and room clearing drills. Call 911, get Dad's gun and hide in the room farthest from the threat.

If you are concerned enough about societal collapse that you think your children need training in military or police type tactics, you need to get out of the city (which it looks like you have) and build that compound!

[eddiememphis]

I agree with all the above for general shooting, but when do you jump from that to defense?

Only when they are willing to learn. Some may never be.

It's Christmas. Show them Diehard. Good ole John McClane. He knew guns and did his best to protect his family.

[Great-Kazoo]

I gave our daughter her AR @ age 14.

To label it lethal home defense weaponry, is (imo) a misconception . We look at any firearm as a self preservation tool.

It's never intended to be lethal, merely a tool to stop a threat. Just as is anything when used correctly, an assault weapon.

[WETWRKS]

but when do you jump from that to defense?.

When they are ready for that you will know it. Most children that use a firearm in self defense have never had self defense training. There is the inherent survival instinct. It is probably 1000x more powerful than any self defense training.

I would re-examine it when they are a teenager. They may be ready then. I wouldn't consider it before then and even then I would look hard at the subject and as I read in a book...dread wisely.

[hollohas]

My Oldest (10) wasn't even ready to shoot a BB gun until recently. However she has been taught gun safety since she started talking and has always followed the rules religiously. She'll even notify me when the Little (2) gets into the toy guns. But she's just not interested in shooting. And a lack of interest can lead to lack of attention. So her time spent actually shooting is limited.

The Middle (5) has always been more interested and has more focus and attention to detail. She got a BB gun for Christmas. She isn't strong enough to cycle the lever and the trigger is heavy for her. That didn't stop her from chastising me for messing up her sight picture when I was helping her pull the trigger on Christmas day. She nailed that Coke can 1st shot. She's gone to the range with me before but didn't express any interest in herself shooting until the last couple months.

I know this doesn't get to the answer regarding what age for self defense. But the point is, age doesn't have much to do with it. It's ability, maturity, etc. All kids are going to be ready at different ages.

But discussing plans of action is always a good thing. Both my Oldest and Middle have a plan and tasks to follow in case of bad guy, including gathering the Little, calling 911, locking doors, hiding, etc. The Middle has done a few lockdown drills at school so she's big on planning different scenarios and running through them at home right now. Might seem kinda odd for a 5 year old, but she's at ease knowing she has a plan.

When practicing lockdown at school during gym, she asked her teacher what they should do if they locked down in the locker room only to discover the bad guy was hiding in a locker. (Quite the imagination). Her teacher answered that if the bad guy gets locked in the room with them, then they will ALL need to fight the bad guy. That could be scary for a kindergartner, but it put her at ease knowing she wouldn't just be a sitting duck. If she continues to show that sort of maturity, she could very well learn armed self defense at an earlier age than my Oldest.

[theGinsue]

We always knew where the guns were and that we weren't allow to touch them except in an emergency.

I say, the sooner the better. Kids exposed to firearms early won't have to have any biases broken.


I plan on introducing the girl to the guns in a "I will gladly show you them whenever you want, but you must not touch them on your own" sort of way, then when she's a bit older teaching her how to shoot.


I think it really depends on the child. There are many adults my age (58) that I wouldn't want to know where my firearm is stored in the house. I also know many teenagers that likely could be trusted. "Access" requires thoughtfulness, maturity and the ability to logically and quickly make decisions. In my opinion you really need to evaluate each child individually and make a decision based upon their individual "worthiness".

Great comments. This is much like how I was raised around firearms and how I raised my kids with them.

Some of my earliest memories are of my dad taking me shooting. He had to help me hold the firearm for a long time. I learned from these trips how they operated. It taught me how much damage they could do to the targets (often times we had cans set up on fence posts). This made it clear what damage they could do to a person.

Through what my dad did it took away my curiosity of firearms and how to respect them and the potential damage they could cause. It taught me that if I ever wanted to handle them, I could do so - only under the supervision of my dad; otherwise, they were off limits. But, I knew where they were and if needed (when I got a bit older), I knew how to use them to protect myself. We were never to tell our friends about them and if we found ourselves in someone elses home where a friend wanted to show us the guns in their home we were to immediately leave the home.

Kids are very curious creatures. If you have something around that they find but know nothing about they will investigate. This can result in very bad things happening. By removing the curiosity factor you help make everyone safer.


Trained my son to use an AR both stationary and on the move at age 8. Handgun training around 10 and he knows the rules of engagement for accessing the revolver when we are out. He is 15 now and is my assistant when I teach scouts for the rifle and shotgun merit badges.
They need to learn at the youngest age possible.

Rico was kind enough to serve as RSO/Range Master for a shooting event I had a few years back for my military unit. Sadly, most of those folks had only handled firearms during their BMTS/OTS/Academy time. I have never in my experience had anyone so professional, so powerful and so safety conscious performing RSO/Range Master as Rico. We were very blessed to have him. My point is his focus on safety is unparalleled. If this is how he handles the issue with firearms and his children, you know it's well considered for safety.

As bczadm said though, every child and every situation is different. Only you as a parent will know if your kids are ready for the responsibility. But remember, if they don't learn about firearms from you they may find their curiosity overwhelming them or they may be checking out their friends dad's guns without supervision. That rarely ends well for anyone.

[clodhopper]

I think it really depends on the child. There are many adults my age (58) that I wouldn't want to know where my firearm is stored in the house. I also know many teenagers that likely could be trusted. "Access" requires thoughtfulness, maturity and the ability to logically and quickly make decisions. In my opinion you really need to evaluate each child individually and make a decision based upon their individual "worthiness".


It isn't an age thing...it is a maturity thing. When is a child mature enough to handle being taught to shoot. That all depends on the individual child.

I was shooting at about 6 or 7. Shot my first 12 gauge at 9.

There are adults that I don't allow to handle a firearm that I have personally cleared as they cannot be trusted with even an empty firearm.

This. Every kid is different.

My sons started shooting BBs and airguns at 5, 22s at 7 or 8, heavy rifles came shortly after. I held off on pistols until after 10. The boys pretty much determined when they were ready for the next level based on comfort and strength. They each got a box of AR parts at 14 to build their own rifle and understand how it works. All of this was under my watchful eye. I didn't let them go shooting on their own until around 16, I might not have been right at their elbow every time, but I was watching and making sure they were following my rules. Once they had proven to do it right even when they thought i wasn't watching, I started letting them go on their own.

My daughter is 29 and I would never let her shoot without me right there. She recently made mention of looking for a self defense weapon and I told her to get a baseball bat.

In my experience, for the average kiddo, start them early with shooting. It takes the mystery out of it. Bring stuff to destroy, watermelons and such. Let them learn how powerful firearms are. Let them learn a gun is a tool and not a magical pew pew like the movies. I didn't have a safe for a long time and never worried about the boys going into it without supervision. Recognize there are some children who should never be granted access to firearms.... like my daughter. :)

[rondog]

We raised our grandson (his parents are both druggie losers), and I introduced him to shooting around 10y.o. or so. First thing I showed him, before letting him shoot anything, was what real guns and real bullets will do to cans and plastic bottles full of water.

"Now, this is similar to what these will do to a human being. NEVER play with a gun around your friends, and NEVER point a gun at someone, unless you need to defend yourself."

I was impressed with how well he absorbed the seriousness of it, and then we could have some fun. We went several times, then he got too old and was BORED with Grandpa's obsession to pick up brass, and there were girls that needed his attention too, and cars, friends, etc.

But he quickly learned to respect them, I even bought him a 10/22 and a 9mm HiPoint carbine, and AFAIK he's never done anything stupid with them. They're still here, in fact, and he's living with roommates. He's also 23 now, and has joined the Navy - just waiting for his orders to ship out to basic.

[wctriumph]

I started my daughter shooting at 4 years, when she could dry fire my 686, I bought a 10-22, a brick of ammo and dropped her off with Grandpa for a week. They went shooting every day and she loved it.
We would go shooting every so often and then she went through the teenager "I hate you" stuff at which time she lost interest in shooting. I started her shooting handguns at 22 years and she has been back on board ever since. I bought her a SR22 to start training and then got her a M&P 9 2.0 which she likes a lot. My browning does not fit her and she doesn't like the weight of my 1911.
She is pretty good with it now and we have been through the Guns for everyone CCW course together, we will take it again and I will pay for her permit this year.

[MED]

My son received his first bow at age four, first knife at age 5, starting shooting 22lr rifle at age 5, starting shooting 22lr pistol at age 6, and by age 8 he was shooting full power pistol, rifle, and shotgun. He's been training in martial arts since age 7. He received his first stripped AR lower at age 10, we finished it by age 13 along with his first Glock17 and his own safe, has numerous pre13 mags that I gave him before the law. When he reached 18, he trained MMA before joining the Marines. He is now a Marine. Certainly I provided him with a lot of safety training with regard to firearms, but most of his self defense and situational awareness came from all the martial arts training over the years. I would say by age 15, he was completely capable of defending himself against most adults with but mostly without a firearm. Ultimately, it comes down to the kid, his responsibility, and your relationship with the kid(do you know where the child's head is at). I was very close to my son, and knew his thought processes most of the time. I was in a split custody 50/50 situation, and his school was about 25 miles from my house. His friends from school didn't just drop by my place after school so that also played a major role in my decision to give him access because I wasn't worried about his friends. I would have been less likely to do it if other kids were in the house. I would say as far as concern goes, it was far more difficult to turn over the keys to a vehicle than giving him the code to the safe.

[FoxtArt]

Start with longguns, pellet guns, bb guns, or shotguns first. Judge based on the maturity of a kid, as previously pointed out. Implement safe handling rules with a toy gun with they are young and see how they handle it. Possibly consider something like an airsoft rifle/pistol to develop their safe handling and respect for weapons first, if they are pretty young (3-6 years old). Back when my son was 3, I taught him of the dangers of a real vs toy handgun and the need to seek an adult (using an airsoft). It stuck. He remembered it over a year later. Nerf guns and water guns are for shooting people, toy guns have the same rules as real guns.

Generally keep them away from handguns, especially semi-automatic until they are much older - teenage or almost adult. The length of a rifle-style weapon provides a significant margin of safety as they develop and perfect weapon handling, and kids biologically don't have the attention span/focus that adults do. Ease of operation is important - e.g. any semi-automatic a kid often struggles with to charge, which impedes their focus on where the barrel is pointing, etc. [Except obvious stuff like a 22 rifle or something... but still, starting with bolts/breaks/etc. is often recommended]

Also it should be said - some kids the answer is "never." Note that personality disorders, clinical depression, etc. don't generally emerge until adolescence. If a kid is a little "off", error on the side of caution until they are old enough for you to figure out what kind of person they are becoming, and what issues they are going to have.