For what it's worth I have a 7 year old son who has been around guns since he was 3 and he owns a .22 rifle and a .410 shotgun, he goes shoting with me all the time and loves it to death. But besides all the gun safty talks the thing i think has had the biggest impression on him is a ducks and bucks event. (very pleased with the level of learning taught by the instructors there. And on a final note he shows no intrest in handling them when they are out or being cleaned. But as stated before never put it past them.