At What Age Should You Start Teaching Your Kids to Handle Guns

The Evangelist Cowboy said:

Son is six. His first time shooting was last Thursday with his savage mk2. He wanted to shoot a .357 mag but I told him no. He was so disappointed but I got my eyes on a ruger bear cat for him View attachment 921190

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My twelve year old will shoot up my entire supply of .22 through his favored revolver, but he has seen how the .357 kicks and wants nothing to do with it!

I totally agree that each child is different. I have two sons, The oldest was ready to go to the range at 5 and the younger not until he was getting ready to turn 7. I started both with a Daisy Red Rider to teach safety and how to handle a rifle. When I felt they had mastered the Red Rider, I moved them up to a single shot 22 with reactive type targets (fruit and water bottles) to drive home what a gun can do to someone. I always drilled safety into them. Now that they are adults, I can introduce them to the finer points of shooting and firearms.

As has been mentioned it's not about age but maturity.

I dont agree with the whole "toy" thing for teaching. Bring an actual gun into the mix with no ammo even remotely nearby. Bingo. Then you can actually explain and show how real guns operate.

My first gun experience wasn't with a toy or BB/Pellet gun, it was with my father's 22lr Winchester rifle around the age of 10.

Some may be ready sooner, some later. I think 5yo is too young personally.

My son is almost 5 & there is no way I’d take that wild animal to a real range yet. He’s been shooting the Red Ryder with my help for a year or so. I think by the time he’s 7 or 8 he’ll be ready for the 10/22.

.38 Special said:

My twelve year old will shoot up my entire supply of .22 through his favored revolver, but he has seen how the .357 kicks and wants nothing to do with it!

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Load some full wadcutters with 2 grains of Trail Boss. 148 grains at 625 fps. As long as its a steel revolver, it won't kick. Can't say it will be as cheap to shoot, but it will blow up a watermelon better than a 22. Ice blocks, soda cans, water jugs too.

I still shoot a Red Ryder.

It is never too early.



or late, for that matter.

jmorris said:

It is never too early.

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or late, for that matter.

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Looks like a Baby Glock.

Gun safety and how to respect a firearm started at 4 or 5. Training on how to react if they encounter a gun at anyone elses house shortly after. Drills for active shooter after that. I put my son behind a 10/22 at 8 with his grandfather on the other side and we drilled him for an hour on basic gun skills before he was given a magazine. Warned that he broke a rule it was over no question. He was nervous but focused. I believe a little fear and a lot of respect for the firearm is necessary. He has been shooting for 3 years and is the joy of all the range masters at our local shoot point blank. My daughter is now 8 and went through everything but the shooting. She is just not interested. She is offered every time but declines.

Ernie Bass said:

Looks like a Baby Glock. Gun guy for sure. Even sleeps with his Glock.
Notice how he sleeps with his finger off the trigger. Good Training.

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That one is a girl but the actually seem easier to me than boys, for somethings.

The e earlier you teach anyone proper firearm safety, the less number of people that promote safe gun handling are called bad names.

labnoti said:

Load some full wadcutters with 2 grains of Trail Boss. 148 grains at 625 fps. As long as its a steel revolver, it won't kick. Can't say it will be as cheap to shoot, but it will blow up a watermelon better than a 22. Ice blocks, soda cans, water jugs too.

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I have literally thousands of 148/2.7 Bullseye loads on hand. If he ever expresses interest, they are his to shoot. For now he is so pleased with .22 LR that I am not going to interfere!

tws3b2 said:

At the range today, The Man was giving his usual lecture on safety and range rules. I've heard it many times but this time part of it caught my ear. (Kids 5 to 15 shoot free). I have a 5 year old Great Granddaughter and I would love to introduce her to shooting. But, Is 5 years to early? I was looking at a Sig 22lr that she May be able to handle in her small hands. What you think? That's her on the left. My pride and joy.

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"Folks back home used to say I could shoot a rifle before I was *weaned*, but they was exaggeratin' some." - Gary Cooper as Sgt. York.

I was six when i first started with an air rife. I started my son out at six, and he was excited first, but quickly lost interest. It depends on the child. My local range does a youth 22LR rifle league, and their minimum age is 8. Cub Scouts only allows air rifles, and BSA only allows rimfire all the way to age 18 (exception being Explorer groups.)

I suggest you discuss it with the parents and go from there, but if you start them too early, it could have long lasting negative impacts.

Good luck!

D.B. Cooper said:

"Folks back home used to say I could shoot a rifle before I was *weaned*, but they was exaggeratin' some." - Gary Cooper as Sgt. York.

I was six when i first started with an air rife. I started my son out at six, and he was excited first, but quickly lost interest. It depends on the child. My local range does a youth 22LR rifle league, and their minimum age is 8. Cub Scouts only allows air rifles, and BSA only allows rimfire all the way to age 18 (exception being Explorer groups.)

I suggest you discuss it with the parents and go from there, but if you start them too early, it could have long lasting negative impacts.

Good luck!

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Good post. h. Something said for too early training. Some that always concerned me. Our club has Boy Scouts only, for rimfire. I believe the age for that is 11 yrs old to start.
My son performs very well at shooting, but he enjoys the outdoor world of Back Packing much more than guns. Guns are really far down on his list. Which if fine with me.

Probably started the kid's out at around 6 or 7 years old with the safety rules and an air soft gun. From there to BB guns and maybe a year later with a .22LR rifle.

My oldest is calm and responsible. He owned his own .22 and could hit 12ga. hulls at 25 yards when he was 5.
My youngest is wild, hyper, and stubborn. She will be 8 in August, I am still trying to teach her to handle a BB rifle.
It depends on the child, not the age. But, it is NEVER to early to start teaching them safety.

All I can say to labnoti's post is there are a tremendous number of shooters that learned with the 22 and seem to have suffered no ill effects including me, my children, their children, and now the fourth generation.

tws3b2 said:

At the range today, The Man was giving his usual lecture on safety and range rules. I've heard it many times but this time part of it caught my ear. (Kids 5 to 15 shoot free). I have a 5 year old Great Granddaughter and I would love to introduce her to shooting. But, Is 5 years to early? I was looking at a Sig 22lr that she May be able to handle in her small hands. What you think? That's her on the left. My pride and joy.

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Depends on the kid..My 7yo and 9yo grand daughters are familiar with Dad having guns but have shown no interest yet, even tho Dad mentions they can go to the range with him..and shoot my Wrangler 22 revolver. I don't think you can put a age on it...I certainly wouldn't force a kid to go....

This is that little girl above at 2, with her first hit on a can.




Too young to shoot on her own or even hold the pellet gun by herself but safer at gun handling than some adults, even at that age.

She was never forced to learn though, just the rules, if you wanted to be fun with firearms. Kind of like a kid doesn’t need to know how to cook, in order to know they need to wash their hands before they can start.

Start them out on something with a decent trigger and they would rather read their dolls a story than shoot a red Ryder

I’m taking my son to the range for the first time this weekend. He’s super excited and has been counting down the days. He’ll be 12 in a couple months. I picked up a 10/22 for him to learn on. Looking to pick up a .22 handgun but want him to pick it out so it’s comfortable in his hands. We’ve been going over the rules of handling a gun for a few months now and am comfortable with him being ready. We’ve watched a lot of videos on range etiquette and we’ve gone through procedures over and over till he felt comfortable loading, unloading, what to do in case of a misfire, etc. He’s a pretty responsible kid for his age.

jmorris said:

It is never too early.

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or late, for that matter.

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Awwww, that's soooooooooo cute! Good trigger finger discipline too! He's a natural!!!

I was taught about guns before I could even walk. I use to have an old picture of myself when I was 2 years old in my playpen, In this picture you see me and my dad's chief special, I am actually chewing on the grips of the gun, so I guess you can say that I literally cut my teeth on a gun. I remember my mom telling me the story years ago when I came across the picture with her after my dad had passed. She said she was so mad at him for doing that that she made him sleep on the couch and wash out all of my dirty diapers for week. She told me she asked him why he did such a thing and he said " what it was not loaded so nothing to worry about" Then he told her that he did it to take away the curiosity factor around guns and that would make it safer to have guns in the house. That was my dad he also use to soak my pacifier in a glass of whiskey to give me when I was teething real bad, but that is a whole different story.

The point is I grew up using and shooting guns from a very young age, and my father beat into my head the firearm safety rules, and I never had an issue with guns growing up. They were like the hammer my dad used on his job, A tool for hunting and shooting not a strange off limits piece of something exciting.

I really believe that if we take the unknown factor, the curiosity factor, or wow factor about guns from our children that it does and will keep a lot of accidents from happening with them and guns. You take away the unknown with firearms and they just become another tool.

I also trained my 4 children from a very early age about guns and the dangers they can possess if not given the proper respect due them. My kids knew not to touch any of my firearms without first checking with me. and I hope my children pass along the same advise and training to their kids when they have their own.

Todd Reeves said:

I also trained my 4 children from a very early age about guns and the dangers they can possess if not given the proper respect due them. My kids knew not to touch any of my firearms without first checking with me. and I hope my children pass along the same advise and training to their kids when they have their own.

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Welcome to the forum, Todd!
I couldn't click a double "like" for your post, or I would have. When it comes to guns, our "children," our two daughters have already passed to their kids "the same advise and training" my wife and I gave them. We're hoping those things will be passed along to our great-grandchildren now.

I remember carrying around empty BB guns for practice.

Aim1 said:

I remember carrying around empty BB guns for practice.

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A friend of mine that is a guide had his boy carrying around a pop gun when he was a boy too young to hunt. He had to treat it the same way the rest of us treated ours. He grew up into a good man to be around with firearms (edit and without )