I may have to start my daughter off earlier than I though.

[flip180]

My daughter is only two and a half and she already has an intrest in guns. My wife said she saw her and another boy at daycare chasing each other around with toy guns. although my daughter is a welcomed sight at our local gun store, I really try to keep guns as far from her as possible here at home. I don't even like her in the same room with me when I have my safe open or have a particullar gun out. A friend of mine who was working on his shift as a sherrif's deputy came over the other night when he had some down time. He wanted to check out a new CTR stock I bought for my Stag AR. He brought in his RRA AR which is his patrol rifle. Macie was in the other room and walked in while we had our rifles out. I heard her say "look daddy, toys" while pointing at our rifles. Yesterday at the gun store I was looking at a single six and the young lady behind the counter also showed me a Ruger Bearcat. Macie wanted to hold it and had a great intrest in it. Needless to say, I didn't let her hold it and handed it back. I don't know whether to feel bothered due to her intrest at this point. I don't want guns to be some taboo thing because that'll just spark her intrest more in a negative way. I want her to know that they aren't toys though education and range time but, it'll be some time before she's old enough to go to the range. I thought eight years old would be a good age but, I may need to try to get her out sooner.

Flip

 

[pax]

Too busy to type much, but check this out: http://www.corneredcat.com/KidsAndGuns/FirstLesson.htm

Read it, come back & ask questions. Pretty sure others will be along to answer 'em!

pax

 

[steelhead]

Show this to your wife.

Here is my 5 year old daughter with her Savage Cub.

 

[mustanger98]

Well, I'm a 32 year old guy and I remember the first time I ever fired a gun... it was my Daddy's old double-barrel shotgun and I was 3 years old. Daddy held it and I pulled the triggers and tried to plug my ears in a hurry. I get a laugh thinking about that. We didn't even think about all that exploratory time as such, but Daddy showed me the insides of a shotshell and all soon after that. From there, I was shooting .22 rifles off and on by age 7 and knew what a bullet would do, partly because Daddy shot a .30-06 at a gallon milk jug full of water so I could see it explode. Then he told me the human body is 70% water and if somebody gets shot, everything takes a shock. I seriously recommend this approach, but a lot depends on the kid. I didn't get into handguns and actually shooting highpower rifles until I was teenage and mid-20's respectively, but I had enough background to see where the safety and accuracy angles were headed.

When I was 8 years old, my sister was 4... she started learning about that time. She can shoot as well as I can if she's of a mind to.

I wouldn't worry if a 2-4 year old is interested. The kid's just wanting to be into what her parents are into. If I had a kid(s), I'd be working on involving them.

 

[BenjaminR]

Teach Your Daughter

Your daughter is definately young enough where it might be difficult to get across to her that guns aren't toys. But I don't think she's to young to start teaching. Let her study your unloaded guns while in your presence. This will help quench her curiosity. I'm not a father, but I remember I was introduced to my dad's guns when I was about 5. My father helped keep me safe by letting me "study" (study is the operative word, not play) them whenever I wanted...all I had to do was ASK HIM. He also taught me that every time I picked up or was handed a gun to check to make sure it's unloaded.

You might talk to the people at the daycare and have them decommission the toy guns, cuz they're obviously not teaching the kids to respect guns. Maybe they could start an early firearms education thing for the kids where they teach them to find/tell an adult if they see a gun (in this case, a toy gun) laying around.

-Benjamin

 

[MikeWSC]

Flip,

I've had my son shooting since he was six, he'll be 18 tomorrow (how fast they grow). I never stopped him from looking at my guns (while I was with him), always took time to show them to him and told him how they worked. Since I never denied him the opportunity to touch, hold, look through the scope... in all these years he never got into my guns behind my back. He didn't have to, all he had to do was ask. Granted, they are locked in safes or cabinets.

Had him in a youth shooting program at my club when he was 12 (when I joined the club) and before that took him to State Ranges. Hunting started with small game and he's been successful four years running during deer season. He had Hunters Safety at 12.

As a instructor, each child matures and different times, you can decide when its best to get her into the shooting sports. If she shows intrest, encourage, encourage, encourage, our kids are the future of our sport.

As a parent, were responsible for our kids, keep an eye on them and take her with you when you shoot. Remember how you wanted to do the things your dad did? I remember, I still love to hunt and golf with dad.

Mike