Guns and children....what age?

[Believer45]

My son is very responsible and has been shooting with me since he was 6 under very close supervision. We did safety class in the back yard (I taught gun safety in a couple of Boy Scout troops in the past). He bought his own .22 (a Savage bolt action with a ten round mag) at age 12. The gun stays locked in a wall mounted gun safe with the rest of my - er - armaments (an actual safe, not one of these glass-front "steal me" boxes in the living room) that he still does not have a key to and he is currently 17. He has been responsible and safe with his gun use since he started.

My daugher, on the other hand, was not terribly interested in them and has not done much since I snatched an Ithica .22 lever action out of her hands when she swung it around toward the rest of the group while on the firing line behind our house during some training. She did not pay attention to any of the 317,509 times I told the group that morning to ALWAYS keep the gun pointed down range.

I agree with the majority of folks here and as a gun owner of 40+ years and trainer since the late 60's/early 70's I think it depends on your daughter and how she take to the training. The first lesson can be whenever she understands enough of your language of choice to know what you are saying, the rest of the training and the first shot depend on how well she pays attention and takes to heart what you say.

Dave / Believer45

[GiraffeCat]

I believe old enough to know what a gun is, is old enough to start in on gun safety. As a victim of kids playing with guns (at age 9), a think children should be taught that guns are not toys, knives are not, etcetera. Just try to explain to your 10 year old that going through 1 emergency, 2 reconstructive, and 2 plastic surgeries to be able to walk is not fun at all! Hope this helps.

[Rampy]

Oldest daughter is 15 & little one is 10. Oldest daughter got a lever action .22 for her 10th birthday.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

[Rampy]

[Rampy]

[Rampy]

[07HEMI4ME]

I shot my first rabbit at 6 years old (he was eating my garden and yes we had him for dinner), dad gave me my very first rifle, a bolt action .22 at 8 years old. I started letting my boys (now 16 and 13) shoot at 8 years old. I started teaching them at 6, gun safety and showing them what a gun will do and to respect firearms.

They go to the range with me once a month, and every few months my Dad will tag along, so we have 3 generations shooting.

I do not think 10 years old is too young.

[DieselFan]

I grew up on a farm. I learned at an early age that guns on the farm were like any other dangerous tool. Guns, like chainsaws, have a purpose and used incorrectly can injure or kill. So I grew up with a healthy respect for guns but enjoyed the heck out of them. I got to shoot everything from a .22 to a .264 Winchester, .410 to a 12 gauge, completely supervised, until I was 12 years old. And when I turned 12, I received my first gun which was a single shot .410 shotgun. The next year I received a Savage that had a .22 rifle on top, and a 20 gauge shotgun underneath, modified choke. Truly a general purpose meat gun. By the time I was fourteen, I had a Savage 12 gauge double barrel shotgun and a Mossberg bolt-action .22 rifle.

And both my boys grew up around guns the same way I did and I never had a problem with either of them regarding guns or ammunition. Up to 12, teach them and allow them to shoot supervised. Give them their first gun when they turn 12, with restrictions, of course. By the time they are 14, they can head to the field on their own.

[LeRoy]

I got my first gun at age 8. 22 cal short single shot bolt. One of my uncles gave it to me.

LeRoy

[JRLindley]

I started shooting at 6 and hunting with dad at 8 with my own shotgun. It was a 20 that was death on dove and quail, so I carried it for deer with slugs. It all boils down to desire to be safe, desire to shoot, and a RESPECT for what damage can occur from an unsafe discharge.
I cleaned all the guns after use, and cleaned guns for others which paid for my own firearm and accessory purchases.

Help your daughter understand the safety issues, teach her operation with supervised dry-fire sessions, and let her shoot and have fun. When she says or acts like she is tiring of what is going on it is time to stop. Please don't make it boring for her ( I bored my then 7 year old and really affected her interest in shooting ).

[browning]

I love those pics of Rampy's Girls.

My daughter is 15 and I'm not sure how old she was when she first started shooting. Around 7 or 8 I think. But she has been around guns all her life. And any time she was in sight of of a firearm I made sure to take the time to teach her responsibility. She now loves to go hunting with me and can shoot 1/4" groops at 100 yds with her model 70 223. She is a marksman in the JROTC in school. I'm very proud of her to say the least.

The problem with young children comes when they are not taught what a firearm can do and are not taught responsibility. So when they do come into contact whit a gun they do not respect it. And can be influenced to do bad things by less than desirable people.

I can't remember the first time I ever shot a firearm. It's kind of like my parents. They've just allways been there. When I was in middle school, '78 - '80, my mom would drop me off at the front of the school with my Browning Auto5 and ammo that I would take to my teacher to keep with him in the classroom so we could go shoot skeet after school. I even took my Mec shotgun shell reloader to school and taught the class how to reload for show and tell in the 8th grade. Times have changed a bit since then haven't they.

It's never too early to teach your kids about firearm safety. You can do a lot without having to actually shoot the gun.

Just my thoughts.

Mark

[CZDiesel]

It makes me feel good that there is so many good parents here on this site that are taking the time to teach firearm safety and introducing their children to shooting sports! Way to go DieselStop parents! Keep up the good work!

[B-rad]

Growing up my dad was the sheriff and police firearm instructor. Needless to say I got brought up around guns and the one thing that my dad tought me was that they are a tool and need to be respected. He took me out all the time to go shooting but he also made me fully understand that you clean them after every time you shoot them, if you take care of them they will take care of you, just like our trucks.