How young is old enough to be armed at home alone?

My 15 year old stepdaughter has expressed interest in learning to shoot. This is probably because my wife is interested in getting her CCW and we've been discussing it. That's fine, anything that makes my stepdaughter interested is fine with me.

Great! She wants to learn to shoot and I'll teach her. I'll probably have her get some training with WhiskeyJack (Templarus Group) as well when the time is right.

But at what age to do you let your kid have the key to your safe or access to any firearm when they're home alone? I know that "it depends" on a lot of things (maturity, responsibility, etc.), but I've never had a teenager in the house before.

It's a little scary thinking of allowing a teenager unsupervised access to guns EVER. My buddy's son had a 13 year old friend of his commit suicide with his dads shotgun a few weeks ago. What a heart-breaker.

But again, this 15 year old girl is old enough to stay home alone and babysits her 7 year old brother from time to time. I'm armed or have a gun within reach pretty much at all times when I'm home, so I think "Really? I'm armed when I'm home, but she's defenseless when she's home alone?" Hmmmm.

It's probably just a "you'll know it when you know it" kind of thing, but who has some experience/advice with this?

I think this is a great topic and I can't wait to see what others have to say. I'm a young'un myself so I know what it is like to be the person saying "Hey arm me I'm all alone." But I can't imagine the pressure and consideration put into thought about this from a parents perspective. I do not envy the decision.

I don't look at age. Maturity and responsibility would be better gauges of the appropriateness of arming someone. That probably would apply to adults as well. I know that I have friends in their 40s that I will never place a firearm within their reach.

My 13 year old knows the combinations to my safes and knows where all the ammo is.

I don't have kids so I don't have much to contribute here, what I can tell you is that I had access to my dads guns around age 10; he taught me everything there was to know about gun safety and the consequences for playing with them. Not once was I interested in touching them without him around. I'm sure you'll know weather or not she's ready. Like WW said, maturity and responsibility is key.

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Originally Posted by WETWRKS

I don't look at age. Maturity and responsibility would be better gauges of the appropriateness of arming someone.

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Smart.

I didn't have the keys to the castle, but I had my single-shot .410 at 13. It was MINE and so was the ammo for it.

Being given my own shotgun that I had access to 24/7 was such a big deal and such a huge honor that I treated it like it was the nuclear football.

If the respect, appreciation and understanding is there, do it at 6 months. [Beer]

You live WAY too close to Dumont to not have everyone who is interested in guns in your family not be shooting the monthly IDPA matches. I think that training with WhiskeyJack is a great idea, and monthly (if not more frequent) shooting matches is a must for someone who may actually use their gun to defend themselves.

My father has never owned a gun safe and since I was 10 I knew exactly where the guns and ammo were. I downplayed the stupidity simply because, at that time, the thought of upsetting him and seeing that belt come out was worse than a thousand cops banging on my parents doors.

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Originally Posted by Graves

I don't have kids so I don't have much to contribute here, what I can tell you is that I had access to my dads guns around age 10; he taught me everything there was to know about gun safety and the consequences for playing with them. Not once was I interested in touching them without him around. I'm sure you'll know weather or not she's ready. Like WW said, maturity and responsibility is key.

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Yeah, I wasn't really interested in shooting until I was in college. I just didn't have your experience when I was really young myself so I don't know what that's like.

My girl is a straight A student since kindergarten, sports superstar and sharp as a tack (yep, bragging :)), so I think she'll be getting access sooner rather than later. It's just a big step to say "here's a gun for ya".

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Originally Posted by GilpinGuy

I know that "it depends" on a lot of things (maturity, responsibility, etc.)

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That is it right there. I trusted my brother with access to my guns back when he was about 15, I still won't allow my 33 year old sister to touch one of my guns unless its been unloaded and I am within arms reach.

It's been a while since I have been in a psych med lecture, but if I remember correctly %90 percent of suicides are contemplated and attempted in under ten minutes.
Furthermore teenagers are at a especially high risk of suicide do to a lack of frontal lobe development and a lack of understanding of permanence to their actions; this will of course apply to younger kids as well. Teens in particular though will also experience strong shifts in estrogen, testosterone, serotonin, dopamine, and norepi on a daily basis.

The above is the primary reason that I will not allow teens to handle any weapons unsupervised other than my brother (who is now 18).

Like you said there are many factors to weigh. Ultimately you'll have to decide if you think the risk of injury to others or herself, self inflicted or otherwise, is greater than the risk of some type of home invasion.

15yrs old and she had access to a .20ga mossy. At that age she was already doing complete take down of the AR's.
We did however keep everything else outside the 20ga secure. Her we trusted, her friends who as most kids do, have wandering eyes.

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Originally Posted by pepito

My father has never owned a gun safe and since I was 10 I knew exactly where the guns and ammo were. I downplayed the stupidity simply ...

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When you grow up this way you see guns as tools, just like a drill or a knife.
People don't lock those items up in their houses!! There is no stupidity there if the there was introduction/safety to the kids and the curiosity was culled.

I own safes to protect from theft, not to protect my family from itself.
I also teach that a gun doesn't need to be loaded until your ready to use it. Even while hunting I don't carry a loaded gun. In fact I usually take dry fire shots at the animal while hunting to cure the buck fever before I load and fire the kill shot. I teach this practice while guiding hunts to promote gun safety as well as cure buck fever. It makes those not so familiar with guns feel very confident when they finally take the shot.

I have never needed to carry a loaded firearm except when I worked law enforcement.

If someone wants to hurt themselves they will do it. They will find a way whether it is a gun, knife car, medicine etc. If someone uses a gun to kill themselves it is not the gun's fault or where it was kept. That person had issues and it was gonna happen anyway you look at it.

I feel sorry for folks that don't show kids gun safety and no touch; at a young age get rid of their curiosity and under supervision let them get their curiosity out. My kids can see guns under supervision almost when ever they want. We also go shoot when ever they want or can.

When something has no novelty there is no need for concern.

IMHO gun introduction/safety starts very young when they show interest. Most boys this age is 3-5 years old.

I don't have guns out. They are not all locked up either. I also don't let kids (other than my own) in my house unsupervised... I guess when you live in the country you also don't have kids friends and neighbor kids to worry about stopping by to play.

It all depends on maturity, trust, and experience. My son has access to everything and i have total trust in him. But if something happened i know he would grab his. 22 because he is so comfortable with it but he has shot my Glocks etc. He is 10 and i would have no problem leaving him alone with guns.

My 4 year old daughter goes shooting with us, has shot several guns with help. And has gotten over the "what is that" when she sees my carry piece on the dresser. I wouldnt leave her home alone with unsecured weapons yet, but by the time she is old enough to be home alone i wont worry.

I agree that it's about maturity and respect more than age.. I grew up on a farm with firearms by the door or in the rack over the fireplace and again I was taught to respect them and others.. I have 8 year old twins and an 11 year old and I can tell you watching them handle theirs or my weapons they are much safer than alot of the adults I see. As well the weapons aren't treated as novelties as someone else pointed out. My kids all hunt and have handled some form of firearm since they were 4 and we've always stressed the safety first and although we go out and target shoot and make it fun handling a weapon is still very serious and dangerous.. Long story short I don't worry about my kids in the least.

Food for thought:

While we are in agreement about the maturity and education being key, the law (unfortunately) comes into play as well:

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Originally Posted by Colorado Revised Statutes

18-12-108.5. Possession of handguns by juveniles - prohibited - exceptions - penalty.


(1) (a) Except as provided in this section, it is unlawful for any person who has not attained the age of eighteen years knowingly to have any handgun in such person's possession.

(b) Any person possessing any handgun in violation of paragraph (a) of this subsection (1) commits the offense of illegal possession of a handgun by a juvenile.

(c) (I) Illegal possession of a handgun by a juvenile is a class 2 misdemeanor.

(II) For any second or subsequent offense, illegal possession of a handgun by a juvenile is a class 5 felony.

(d) Any person under the age of eighteen years who is taken into custody by a law enforcement officer for an offense pursuant to this section shall be taken into temporary custody in the manner described in section 19-2-508, C.R.S.

(2) This section shall not apply to:

(a) Any person under the age of eighteen years who is:

(I) In attendance at a hunter's safety course or a firearms safety course; or

(II) Engaging in practice in the use of a firearm or target shooting at an established range authorized by the governing body of the jurisdiction in which such range is located or any other area where the discharge of a firearm is not prohibited; or

(III) Engaging in an organized competition involving the use of a firearm or participating in or practicing for a performance by an organized group under 501 (c) (3) as determined by the federal internal revenue service which uses firearms as a part of such performance; or

(IV) Hunting or trapping pursuant to a valid license issued to such person pursuant to article 4 of title 33, C.R.S.; or

(V) Traveling with any handgun in such person's possession being unloaded to or from any activity described in subparagraph (I), (II), (III), or (IV) of this paragraph (a);

(b) Any person under the age of eighteen years who is on real property under the control of such person's parent, legal guardian, or grandparent and who has the permission of such person's parent or legal guardian to possess a handgun;

(c) Any person under the age of eighteen years who is at such person's residence and who, with the permission of such person's parent or legal guardian, possesses a handgun for the purpose of exercising the rights contained in section 18-1-704 or section 18-1-704.5.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2) of this section, a handgun is "loaded" if:

(a) There is a cartridge in the chamber of the handgun; or

(b) There is a cartridge in the cylinder of the handgun, if the handgun is a revolver; or

(c) The handgun, and the ammunition for such handgun, is carried on the person of a person under the age of eighteen years or is in such close proximity to such person that such person could readily gain access to the handgun and the ammunition and load the handgun.

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So, with your permission, she would be ok legally on your property.

my son (almost 2) "helped" me clean a couple of my pistols after the range this weekend...

now obviously different then the question, i would say it all falls into how much you have prepped her. if it hasnt been to much, start now. just even if its talking about what to do in the situation. like, "if you hear "x", call 911 etc...."

then the next time you talk with her about it... you can say what daddy would do in that situation... depending on her reaction, you can start to include her in your discussion on individual situations.

i did the same thing with my wife. when I bought my first pistol, her automatic reaction was "it needs to be locked up".... "ok.. ".. so it was under the bed, unloaded etc. after awhile, and a few dicusions, it was moved to the night stand. then loaded. then chambered etc. all the while, the dicussions are happening.

long story short, she now knows what the first thing she should do is, where to stand in the house, how and what to do with the dogs, etc... she is no longer somebody that I would have to "worry about" ( not actually worry, but not know what shes going to do) if something ever where to happen. she is fully part of my defense plan now..

you could take a little time, and coupled with shooting alot with her, talking with her etc, eventually make her part of the plan..

I like the idea of giving her limited access. Something like one HD gun and a enough ammo for a realistic scenario.

My worry comes from the angle of the kid's friends and how much you trust the people they might bring into the house. The real catch 22 is that when the kid is home alone is when they might need it but also a time when there might be some mischief about that could lead to another kind of real danger.

Obviously case-by-case, kid-by-kid and all that but it's something to consider.

Food for thought: I came home the other night, found various parts of my reloading stuff in dis-array. I question my 13yo son, knows nothing about it. I investigate a little more and ask again. His response is No Idea.

I check the security cameras, eventually found the photos I needed. Son took a couple of his buddies into my garage, got a soda, left his buddies there alone while he went to the bathroom back in the house. The friends were messing around with all my "stuff".

I'm not happy. Can't trust him or his friends anymore. Had to lock everything up fearing they would decide to play with something.

I trust my kids, but not their friends.

I usually have a .38 available when I'm not home, even though they don't actively know it's available, I'm sure in an emergency and something came up, they would go looking for it, find it and use it as needed. (using fear as the motive of use) They know where I normally keep the .38, so I'm sure it would come to mind that "Maybe Dad's gun is available" when fear sets in.

But now I've had to lock it up too just because the friends who were not supposed to be in or around the house were.

My friends would always come over and look for and ask for where the alcohol was, and I would just play dumb. This was in elementary school too. I never got what their deal was.

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Originally Posted by WETWRKS

I don't look at age. Maturity and responsibility would be better gauges of the appropriateness of arming someone. That probably would apply to adults as well. I know that I have friends in their 40s that I will never place a firearm within their reach.

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Best answer

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Originally Posted by Graves

I don't have kids so I don't have much to contribute here, what I can tell you is that I had access to my dads guns around age 10; he taught me everything there was to know about gun safety and the consequences for playing with them. Not once was I interested in touching them without him around. I'm sure you'll know weather or not she's ready. Like WW said, maturity and responsibility is key.

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^^^^^^ This! I also had access to my dads at 10 also and knew how to use them.