What age is appropriate to you to start a kid shooting?

[Drilldo]

My nephew just turned 5 this December. I mentioned buying him a bb gun, which I would keep at my house, to teach him how to shoot safely.
His mother is a nobama supporter, exactly why she supports him she has yet to be able to articulate. She is anti-gun as well. We don't get along very well. lol
My brother is a lost cause as he chooses to follow whatever the wife says, I guess to make his life easier.
I was met with some fierce resistance to the idea by a lot of my family. Which is why I am shopping for a bbgun that would fit him now. The kid turns everything into a gun now, loves the full auto nerf gun I have, he is very smart and more than capable of understanding how a gun works and how careful he must be with one.

What age do you think is appropriate to start a child out shooting? 5 is reasonable to me, as long as he is taught how to safely handle firearms.

[newracer]

I think it is different for every kid. I started both of my sons at 5 and bought them there own .22lr rifles at 7. They are now 8 and 11 and I trust them with firearms more than I trust some adults. They also have friends that I will not take shooting because I just don't think they will listen and be careful enough.

[esaabye]

I think it is a personal question and very dependant on the kid. I started mine between 5 and 6 with the BB guns. At 7 and 9 they both shoot with me often using a 10/22.

I also think it is the parents choice and no one elses.

[Drilldo]

I think it is a personal question and very dependant on the kid. I started mine between 5 and 6 with the BB guns. At 7 and 9 they both shoot with me often using a 10/22.

I also think it is the parents choice and no one elses.

I do agree with you on the parent's choice. One caveat though. Even though she is anti gun, she has said she will let me teach him shoot. With his growing interest in guns, I see it as a very important issue to teach him to shoot safely and respect the power of guns as early as possible. Who is to say when he will be over at a friend's house, whose parents are less than responsible with firearms and the kids find one?

[GoldFinger]

Who is to say when he will be over at a friend's house, whose parents are less than responsible with firearms and the kids find one?[/quote]


+1 - That's one of my biggest fears and why I have always let my kids be around firearms, with me present of course, it takes the "mystique" out of it and will hopefully allow their terrible curiosity to leave it alone. I ask them all the time "what do you do if you see a gun somewhere". The answer is always to tell an adult if your at someone elses house and then tell me. They also know if they ever want to look at a gun that I will happily ablidge, after the standard lecture preceding each time of course. :)

[esaabye]

Who is to say when he will be over at a friend's house, whose parents are less than responsible with firearms and the kids find one?


Agreed, one of the reasons I started my kids off early. Also nice to have a shooting buddy.

[theGinsue]

My kids are now 17 and 20 so I no longer have to worry about what will happen if they are at a friends house and find a gun. I started to introduce them to firearms when they were around 5yo as well. Before I had a change to get them a gun of their own to shoot, my dad got them a small framed .22lr single shot bolt action.

With that said, I used to worry about it. From the time I thought they could clearly understand what I was telling them, I taught them that I had guns and offered to let them look at them all they wanted - with me right there; all they had to do was ask. Several times through the years they asked to see them. I pulled them out, reminded them that they could be very dangerous and required a lot of care and respect when handling, and let them have at it. I'd show them how the guns worked and let they try things out (empty of ammo; of course). I'd always take the time to go over the 10 Commandments of firearms safety too. I think it sunk home. I look back on things and wish I'd taken them to the range more though.

I also taught them that if they were ever at a friends house and saw a gun in that home, or outside, even if they weren't sure that it was real or not, to immediately leave the area and to tell an adult.

Again, now they are 17 and 20 (18 & 21 in one month). They both have handguns - of course, my 17yo son won't officially own his 1911 (.45ACP) until next month. My daughter is looking to move into an apartment with her boyfriend (yeah, it's killing dear old dad) and she has already made comments about taking her XD9 with her.

[car-15]

below is my son at 4 with help and at 5 on his own. he is now 8 we shoot all the time, I could lay 100 loaded weapons on the floor and he will walk by, and not even look twice at them. try that with a kid who never was allowed to touch, or been taught about gun safety, and we will be reading about a tragedy in the newspaper.
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd27/rruusseell1/101_0086.jpg
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd27/rruusseell1/jake.jpg

[SA Friday]

There are benefits in desensitizing kids to the allure of playing with guns. I saw similar results with kids and alcohol when I lived in Europe. Alcohol isn't treated like some mysterious taboo over there, and many countries don't have a minimum drinking age. The results are teens don't get this desire to sneak a drink or go out partying with alcohol to extremes. For them, it's just alcohol...

I agree with the others, age isn't the best measurement tool to use to determine when a kid is ready to shoot. All three of my kids started at different ages based on their mental and physical capabilities. The litmus test I used was when they were responsible enough to actually follow through with tasks around the house. If they can't get a bowl out of the cubbard without closing the door afterward, they were not ready. Shooting requires follow-through after the bang to be safe.

[KFinn]

below is my son at 5 on his own.
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd27/rruusseell1/jake.jpg
HAhahaha.... I love it. just cracks me up for some reason. Awesome!

[Drilldo]

Thank you all for your insight. I will take to heart everything you have said.

[StagLefty]

My son's introduction to guns was also about 5 yrs old. My being an NRA Instructor and his exposure to guns on ranges I was running made him probably more safe than a lot of adults I know. It is a judgement call as to whether the youth is ready and mature enough but getting rid of the curiousity factor has always been on the top of my safety concerns with youth. JMHO

[Troublco]

I wholeheartedly agree with those who say that you can't base it on age, but on the kid individually. I have always been very careful that when they ask to look at one I show them how to handle it safely, and let them see it. But each kid is different, and I think you have to gauge it differently for each one.

[Irving]

Geez car-15, get some eye protection on that kid.

[Ed_S]

My son has been shooting with me since he was 7 1/2. I too wanted to remove the 'gun mystery'. He's very safe when he's with me.

[GreenScoutII]

I was started out shooting when I was about 6. From that day on, I was at the range almost every weekend with my dad. Those days are some of my fondest childhood memories.

I started my oldest daughter shooting a pellet gun at 7 and a .22 at eight. Often in the summer we have tons of huge grasshoppers out behind the house. She will amuse herself for hours shooting them with the pellet gun. She has demonstrated safe gun handling skills and so I trust her to shoot the airgun by herself, but I still actively supervise shooting sessions with the .22.

[gnihcraes]

start with an airsoft gun and work your way into the bb/pellet guns and regular guns. See if you can work with the mother at the same time just a little at a time... hopefully it will turn out to be positive all the way.

as others have indicated of their children, started with mine about 5 or so and have progressed into regular 22's and such without much trouble. They do as the should most of the time when handling the weapons... just watch and correct as needed. I usually don't have any bad feelings when letting my kids handle the bb and pellet guns when I'm not right there with them... and have slowly been working with a friend of my sons to do the right thing too and he's learning. One down and 100's to go. :)

We've got to work on their terminology too though, the sons friend called them "aimers" not sights... so we had a quick little talk about all the parts of the gun. :)

[sniper7]

I don't have kids yet but my fiances little brother is 10, has never been around guns but they hate obama, they were just never brought up with them at all. I bought him his first BB gun and was told he shoots it pretty much daily. I took him out, showed him the rules, told him they must always be followed and need to build him a target to shoot at. It is a basic red ryder which is perfect because they are in a neighborhood with not much of a back yard.
I know he wants to go out and shoot the real guns. I have had mixed feelings on taking him but I think now that he has a BB gun and started getting some good experience with that then i will show him what a .22 can do.

I have friends that have their kids shooting at age 3-4 and give them the right training from the beginning. I will start my kids probably at that age as well and just get them used to being around guns at all times.

[HandKBRad]

I agree with the above posts about it being different for every kid. My kids were 8 and 6 when they started shooting. They are now 11 and 9.

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg238/marine3_5/IMG_0486.jpg

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg238/marine3_5/IMG_0487.jpg

[gnihcraes]

http://www.dcandh.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=444&g2_serialNumber=1


http://www.dcandh.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=446&g2_serialNumber=1


http://www.dcandh.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=453&g2_serialNumber=1

http://www.dcandh.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=457&g2_serialNumber=1

[tbaby303]

it better to teach them now, then leting them go out on the streets and learning.

[BigBear]

Is it sad that I can see these pictures being used by the "other side" as hate-monger/right wing/racist/etc gun shooters "indoctrinating" their children on how to use full auto super armor blowing up assualt rifles with a laser attached!?!?! HAHA.

My greatest memories are from when I was taught to shoot by my grandpa and dad. Grandpa was a farmer (RIP). He could iron site a groundhog over 200 yards and get a kill everytime. He was also a hip shooter and was friggin' amazing on speed drills with a revolver. He could roll the hammer and all 6 shots sounded just like one big one with six holes on target. My dad left farming at 18 to join the military. Though he was never designated to a "sniper" team, he was an expert marksman in all aspects. I remember once my dad wrote his initials (CDB) in a paper target 15 feet away with two magazines in under 20 seconds. It was AMAZING!! With me, they skipped the BB gun and my first exposure was with a .22lr. They didn't let me fire the gun until I could show them the basic design features and how teh gun functioned, state the proper rules for handling firearms and figure out how to remove the barrel and the trigger assembly. Then I had to show that I knew how to clean it. After that, all hell broke loose with the soda cans set up on the beam of the carriage barn! Man, good memories... I still have that .22 too, single shot, bolt action. But it's at my dads house over on the east coast.

[rl45acp]

All these pictures of your guys kids almost make me want to have one. My brother and I have been around guns our entire lives. Having them sitting around, we never looked twice at them. Pop had me shoot my first 22 at around age four. By age six my brother (he was 11 then) and I had the freedom to grab our 22's and tromp around the feilds of our "farm" on Arapahoe and Cherryvalle in Boulder. Now it's Flatirons Acura, Subaru.

Anyway, if the child has been exposed to them from a very young age, I think that the age depends on wether the child can hold the gun and demonstrate responsability. I know a few adults that still can't fufill requirement number two.

This was me at age 14(ish) shooting my Beretta 70s (22) when my pop would take us out to the grasslands for "vacation". No we never made it to Disneyland, and rarely out of state. I still remember people asking him about going there,
"What's up there in the grasslands?"
"Nothin" he replied
"Well, Who's up there?"
"Nobody"
"Well, why do you go there?"
"Cause there's nobody and nothin"

http://www.rlservices.biz/arsgnz/grassland%201989.jpg

[newracer]

My oldest boy when he was 6.

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc129/newracer/a2da44d2.jpg

Both of my boys (8 and 11) a few months ago taking care of some prairie dogs.

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc129/newracer/Shooting/PD%20shooting%20August%202009/IMG_5413.jpg

[rl45acp]

Newracer: Is that a tub of paintballs I see on the table in the first picture?
And, is that private land that your kids are feeding the hawks and cyotes in the second picture? I need to find a place to take my pop hawk feeding.

[newracer]

I took a friends daughter shooting for the first time just after Thanksgiving too, she is 8.

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc129/newracer/Shooting/Photo0087.jpg

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc129/newracer/Shooting/Photo0088.jpg