Have a look here:
http://www.break.com/index/baby_shoots_his_first_gun.html
How young is too young (to shoot) ?
http://www.break.com/index/baby_shoots_his_first_gun.html
How young is too young (to shoot) ?
How young is too young?
- Thread starter Odd Job
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tnieto2004
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This is topic and video that has been discussed for quite a while now .. I think the kid in the video is too young to understand what is going on
eltorrente
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I'm all for kids learning to shoot and being taught about guns, but that is just too young to start putting guns in his hand. Somehow, that doesn't seem "right" to me.
OP
OP
My apologies if it has been discussed before, I just wanted a poll on it because of comments on another forum, to do with this video.
pcosmar
member
I was 4 yrs old when I started to learn, with a .22 rifle, not a handgun.
I did not shoot by myself till about 8 yrs.
That was about the same time I could take the boat out by myself.
I did not shoot by myself till about 8 yrs.
That was about the same time I could take the boat out by myself.
Nomad101bc
Member
Its always good to familarize someone with firearms. The father was stressing safety such as "pay attention" but of course at this age someone should always be supervising as the father responsibly did.
FerFAL
Member
No eye protection? The kid is way too young, seemed a bit scared. The father should grow up a bit himself.
FerFAL
FerFAL
Black Adder LXX
Member
I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that. My boys are RASCALS! 
jefnvk
Member
Well, I question how much that kid is really shooting, and how much he is standing between the dad and gun.
However, the kids need to know what they are doing, and how to do it safely, before they can shoot
However, the kids need to know what they are doing, and how to do it safely, before they can shoot
brighamr
Member
The question\poll in this post doesn't apply. The kid wasn't shooting anything. Dad (who isn't the smartest guy I've seen) was shooting a pistol and had the baby stand there appearing to shoot it.
Honestly, the only thing stunts like this do is give food to the anti's. If the kid were four, had eye protection, maybe had an eddie eagle sticker or something it would be good video for the net. As it is, if any middle-of-the-road 2A person saw this video, it probably wouldn't help swing them to our side.
I started shooting at 4 with supervision and wearing ear\eye protection. No one needed to put a video of me on the net, I learned to shoot just fine.
Honestly, the only thing stunts like this do is give food to the anti's. If the kid were four, had eye protection, maybe had an eddie eagle sticker or something it would be good video for the net. As it is, if any middle-of-the-road 2A person saw this video, it probably wouldn't help swing them to our side.
I started shooting at 4 with supervision and wearing ear\eye protection. No one needed to put a video of me on the net, I learned to shoot just fine.
pdowg881
Member
You shouldn't be shooting a gun until you can properly handle it by yourself safely.
i think that kid is a little to young, i wouldent even say the kid is shooting, he just has his hands on the gun, the dad is pulling the trigger.
id also want it so that the slide on the gun when fire is more than an inch away from my childs face when fired, thats a little to close for comfort, a kid that age could be REALLY hurt if that slide caught him in the kisser.
my dad started teaching me how to shoot when i was about 5 or so. when i was old enough to hold the gun and understand the rules. (the big one was always not to point the gun at anyone, or in any direction close to another human)
i can remember standing in the backyard holding a .22 pistole with my dad behind me steadying me, and me ripping through a clip in about 5 seconds, not hitting the target once, but coming away with a HUGE grin on my face.
i plan on teaching my kids when they are old enough to hold a gun properly and understand the rules.
id also want it so that the slide on the gun when fire is more than an inch away from my childs face when fired, thats a little to close for comfort, a kid that age could be REALLY hurt if that slide caught him in the kisser.
my dad started teaching me how to shoot when i was about 5 or so. when i was old enough to hold the gun and understand the rules. (the big one was always not to point the gun at anyone, or in any direction close to another human)
i can remember standing in the backyard holding a .22 pistole with my dad behind me steadying me, and me ripping through a clip in about 5 seconds, not hitting the target once, but coming away with a HUGE grin on my face.
i plan on teaching my kids when they are old enough to hold a gun properly and understand the rules.
Rugerman99
Member
The kid looked like he was going to start crying. I think this was a mean stunt that the dad pulled and that the kid had no idea what was going on.
AK103K
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- 7,610
First off, screw the anti's. They will never be happy with anything we do, no matter what. If that bothers you, join the NRA, they like compromise and I'm sure they can offer you some tips on how to do so with them.
Personally, I think you should start their training the day they are born, and continue constantly up until you think they are ready for live rounds. Kids are learning sponges and are a lot smarter than many seem to think. Teach them and give them responsibility as early as you can and you will be WAY ahead of the curve. Your the programmer, if your kid turns out screwed up, it aint their fault.
Our kids fired "thousands" of rounds out of their Chipmunks on the living room floor before they ever fired their first live round at 4. By then, they completely understood the safety rules, and had most field positions down. The first time they shot, they put every round on the paper and most in the bull of a 25 yard pistol target at ten yards, offhand, standing on a chair to clear the bench.
Their whole time growing up, we NEVER had any problems with firearms,( other than draconian, PC, school policies and freedom of speech) or firearm safety. I trusted my kids at 4 and 5 more than a lot of adults I know.
Personally, I think you should start their training the day they are born, and continue constantly up until you think they are ready for live rounds. Kids are learning sponges and are a lot smarter than many seem to think. Teach them and give them responsibility as early as you can and you will be WAY ahead of the curve. Your the programmer, if your kid turns out screwed up, it aint their fault.
Our kids fired "thousands" of rounds out of their Chipmunks on the living room floor before they ever fired their first live round at 4. By then, they completely understood the safety rules, and had most field positions down. The first time they shot, they put every round on the paper and most in the bull of a 25 yard pistol target at ten yards, offhand, standing on a chair to clear the bench.
Their whole time growing up, we NEVER had any problems with firearms,( other than draconian, PC, school policies and freedom of speech) or firearm safety. I trusted my kids at 4 and 5 more than a lot of adults I know.
HankB
Member
Other than the kid needing eye protection, all I see is a father/son bonding moment . . . nothing wrong with that.
And as far as the poll question referencing the Four Rules . . . exCUSE me, but kids have to learn, and with Daddy being there right with him, that looks like a perfect learning environment . . . after all, he did NOT turn the kid loose on his own with a pistol.
And as far as the poll question referencing the Four Rules . . . exCUSE me, but kids have to learn, and with Daddy being there right with him, that looks like a perfect learning environment . . . after all, he did NOT turn the kid loose on his own with a pistol.
PistolNewbie
Member
Brother! Way too dangerous in my book for a child this young. I think my son was 7 when he first pulled a trigger with the assistance of his grandpa. This isn't the first time and won't be the last a most likely decent and loving parent made a bad judgement with their child. God knows I made plenty of them!
JohnBT
Member
Ho-hum.
I can tell who wasn't raised around guns.
Next I'll be hearing how your father didn't sit you on his lap and let you look through the steering wheel while you tried to steer.
John
I can tell who wasn't raised around guns.
Next I'll be hearing how your father didn't sit you on his lap and let you look through the steering wheel while you tried to steer.
John
RobMoore
Member
I would say the kid is a bit young, but not by much, maybe another year or two. If he is too young to even aim a toy gun, he is too young for the real thing.
El Tejon
Member
Oldest nephew started at 6, but now, nephew #3 is shooting at 4. They get started younger and younger.
At this rate, my niece, #5, will be shooting at 2.
Too young=if cannot follow instructions.
AK is dead on. Dry practice is the way to start!
At this rate, my niece, #5, will be shooting at 2.
Too young=if cannot follow instructions.
AK is dead on. Dry practice is the way to start!
pcosmar
member
I remember that, 1960 Plymouth Wagon, push button shift.
I was born 57.
I never wore a helmet on my bike. We had tree forts and rope swings. Jumped off roofs and ate berries without washing them first.
I survived just fine.
The eye and ear protection is a good thing, but we had none of that when I was a kid.
I am annoyed by the road noise 1/4 mile away. I can hear it in my living room.
JohnBT
Member
Hah, and my first football helmet didn't have a facemask. No it wasn't a leather helmet. This was in the '50s.
"Bobby Layne of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who retired in 1962, was one of the last players to play without a face mask." - www.riddell.com/history.htm
Car seats, bike helmets, pfui, we didn't even have seat belts when I was a kid. (Okay, traffic wasn't as bad then either, even on the D.C. beltway when I was 15 with a learner's and it had just opened. Got my license the day I turned 16.)
If they'd had bike helmets when I was a kid I would have refused to ride if my parents had insisted on me using one of those contraptions. And can you imagine modern day mothers letting their kids play stickball or football in the street like we did in Baltimore? "CAR"
What a world, modern day kids and their helicopter parents.
John
"Bobby Layne of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who retired in 1962, was one of the last players to play without a face mask." - www.riddell.com/history.htm
Car seats, bike helmets, pfui, we didn't even have seat belts when I was a kid. (Okay, traffic wasn't as bad then either, even on the D.C. beltway when I was 15 with a learner's and it had just opened. Got my license the day I turned 16.)
If they'd had bike helmets when I was a kid I would have refused to ride if my parents had insisted on me using one of those contraptions. And can you imagine modern day mothers letting their kids play stickball or football in the street like we did in Baltimore? "CAR"
What a world, modern day kids and their helicopter parents.
John
aerod1
Member
I agree the kid does not know what is going on but I really don't have a problem with what they are doing. Muzzle in safe direction? Yes. Ear protection? Yes. Maybe some eye protection but over all I don't see the problem with the age thing..
10 Ring Tao
Member
How do you people think the kid did anything at all? Dad did all the work, so to blabulate about the kid not following the 4 rules is pretty myopic.
Now, if it had been just the kid, with no one holding the gun for him, that would be a different story.
Now, if it had been just the kid, with no one holding the gun for him, that would be a different story.
GlowinPontiac
Member
the kid should have had eye protection.
where i live that father would more than likely be charged with risk of injury to a minor.
where i live that father would more than likely be charged with risk of injury to a minor.
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