[walking arsenal]

SO, it finally rose above the sub zero temps that minnesota is famous for on thursday. it hit 35 degrees and i was off like a shot to the range with a trunk load of guns and a smile on my face for the purpous of curing my month long itchy trigger finger.


when i got there i was met with the sight of a dad leaning against a wall watching his 8-10 year old son shoot AN AR-15?!?! "this ought to be good" i thought to myself, i had assumed that the man had loaded the gun and handed it to the kid to try and was now sitting back to watch the kid shoot holes in everything on the range. i took cover a couple benches down but was surprised to hear the kid yell "everyone got yer ears on?". Then he checked both ways and upon seeing that i didnt have mine on (still in the case i had just set down) tapped his ear protection and waited till i had them on my head and had given him a thumbs up. he then hollored "firing!!" and slowly took careful shots at a target 25 yrds out in front of him. after, he checked to see if the gun was empty, laid it down action open, barrel down range, picked up his brass, asked everyone if he could go check his target made sure it was safe, came back, loaded his own mags, and started over. i was even more impressed when, while talking to his dad about building an AR, the kids asked if i wanted to try his gun, i said "sure" and picked it up, but as i did he asked me if i had shot one before i said i had but instead of taking my word he showed me how to do everything. WOW! some kid, and all with no cue from dad who hadnt left his spot except to take a few shots with a friends 44. mag. impressed the hell out of me. so much that i decided to return the favor by letting the little guy shoot my lone eagle using his ammo, a big deal for him i guess.

i had a few thoughts about the whole thing on the way home.
1. i wish more dads would spend time like that with their kids.
2. i wish more shooters were as careful as that kid
3. wish my dad would have built me an AR :(


just thought id share that one

W.A.

[Beetle Bailey]

That's very encouraging. I see plenty of guys two or three times as old as that kid who probably wouldn't even be able to appreciate how responsible he is. BTW, I met a father and son at the range last week that was like that, too ;) . Got to shoot a .405 errr. . .either .405 Winchester or .405 Remington :o or something like that :rolleyes: out of the deal :D .

[Standing Wolf]

It's always good to see the next generation of shooters coming along.

[cool45auto]

That's cool for two reasons.

1. He's a responsible kid that has a good head on his shoulders.

2. He'll pass that along to his kids.

Nice story.

[Justin]

Positively heartwarming.

[tc300mag1]

Positively heartwarming and Refreshing to See a kid like that Very rare to see anymore im trying to teach these things to my boy.

[Brigrat]

I wish some of my colleagues followed that kind of range safety. What was that.... I can't hear you, I didn't have my ears on in time last qual day!

[BluesBear]

Hopefully you also informed him and his dad about The High Road.

[Apple a Day]

There's hope!

[garrettwc]

Am I the only one that thought of Henry Bowman after reading this?

Great kid. A real credit to his parents. That's the key folks. Parenting them right from the get go.

[The Real Hawkeye]

Inspiring story. The tragic part is that he cannot go to school and talk about his hobby to his friends without being suspended for discussing the firing of "assault weapons." As we all know from what the dominant media has drilled into our heads, "kids and guns don't mix." :banghead: We can only hope that he is in a private school or is home-schooled, which I'm willing to bet he is.

[whm1974]

Inspiring story. The tragic part is that he cannot go to school and talk about his hobby to his friends without being suspended for discussing the firing of "assault weapons." As we all know from what the dominant media has drilled into our heads, "kids and guns don't mix." We can only hope that he is in a private school or is home-schooled, which I'm willing to be he is.

Kind of depends where the kids goes to school at. The wrong school
and they will call a social worker to talk to the kids parents. Other
schools they may even have shooting or hunting clubs. Of couse those
will be rather rare.

Bill Meadows

[mlheppl]

Can't even get adults to act that responsible around here. The last time I went to the range, I started out by myself. Shot several groups @ 100 yds. While I was out checking my groups, another fellow showed up & started firing while I was still at my target. P*#@@"d me off. I just loaded up my guns and left because the desire to put one round between his eyes was too strong!:banghead:

[hksw]

Of the experienced I've had in life, I've arrived to the conclusion of :

Never judge a person by the way they look, speak (grammatics, accent, language, etc. - except for content), or write (grammatics, puncutaion, etc. - except for content), judge them by their actions.

[DorGunR]

walking arsenal , that was a very cool story......thanks for sharing.:)

[Mal H]

Wow! Very, very impressive! Like you said, I wish more shooters were that careful, and that savvy. If they were, starting at the same age as that kid, we wouldn't have 95% of the unnecessary gun legislation we have today.

Super kudos to both dad and mom.

[whm1974]

Wow! Very, very impressive! Like you said, I wish more shooters were that careful, and that savvy. If they were, starting at the same age as that kid, we wouldn't have 95% of the unnecessary gun legislation we have today.

We would still have most of the unnecessary gun legislation because
"They who crave power" want to ban guns.

Bill MEadows

[winstonsmith]

I dunno, made me think of Henry Dingman (our very own Combat Wombat). I wish I was given the chance to show that kind of superb range etiquette.

[GraniteState]

Fantastic!
Obviously the father had some influence BUT the young man deserves the credit.
To demonstrate that level of consciousness, confidence, range safety and interest at that age is his personality. Not many kids that age can get so involved in an activity.

[Black Snowman]

Defiantely good to hear. Let's hope he spreads the word to his peers.

[DMK]

:cool: story :)

[Linux&Gun Guy]

Bring them to the High Road!

[sm]

Great to hear stories like this.
Thanks for sharing...I needed that warm and fuzzy feeling.

[Tall Man]

That particular youth did everything correctly, in the correct order. Wow. A story both humbling and inspiring. Well done to the father and the son.

Never judge a person by the way they look, speak (grammatics, accent, language, etc. - except for content), or write (grammatics, puncutaion, etc. - except for content), judge them by their actions.
Well, I submit that a person's actions do in fact fully include their manner of dressing, speech, and writing style, amongst other things. If someone cares (or doesn't care) about one particular part of themselves, then more than likely this choice will extend to other parts of their person.

Within their own realms, gentlemen and slobs are remarkably consistent.

TM

[Khornet]

that is exactly what you'll see if you ever come upon me at the range with my boys.

Gotta raise 'em right: get up when a lady enters, hold the door, say sir and ma'am, follow the four rules.

[squibload]

Gotta raise 'em right: get up when a lady enters, hold the door, say sir and ma'am, follow the four rules.

This kid also has been raised with a strong sense of confidence in his actions, evidenced through proactively checking for all shooters - regardless of age, experience, etc - to have hearing gear on and checked to make sure that everyone knew that the range was "going hot".

This is a parent (likely, parentS) who have raised their child by doing some things right.

The real trick is to see if this same child acts up in class or runs amok in the neighborhood.

He's doing things perfectly on the range. Let's all pray that he's as good in public as well.

[TheOtherOne]

As we all know from what the dominant media has drilled into our heads, "kids and guns don't mix." Yep. If you see a gun: STOP! Don't Touch. Leave the Area. Tell an Adult.

Nonetheless, I too wish my dad would have built me an AR-15! I can't complain too much though, at least I was given my own BB gun when I was that age. I know that most kids these days are not even trusted with those.