How old were you when you got your first gun?

My father gave me a marlin 22 mag bolt action rifle for my 8th birthday along with some serious safety lessons. Still shooting great 30 years later.

Santa (Dad) brought me a Mossberg 183K bolt action .410 for Christmas 1972 (purchased at a local Western Auto). It even had my name engraved on a plate in front of the trigger guard. I still have it, and it is still my preferred shotgun for hunting small game. Gotta love the Poly-Choke.

I bought my first firearm at a JCPenny Labor Day sale in 1978. I was fourteen. It was a Winchester 94 that was $94 out the door. I rode my bicycle six miles to the store, and when I decided I wanted it, I called dad and he had a family friend come and purchase it for me since I was a minor, but I paid for it with money earned from mowing lawns, putting up hay, and raising calves for market. I still have it, too, and I always will.

I went around the neighborhood selling American Seed packets (as seen in 70s comic books) when I was six so I could get my first BB gun. It was the cheapest Daisy you could get, and I still have it, and it still shoots as well as it ever did.

I have handled (under supervision) since about age 8 or 9. And had my own since about 13.

Looking at the poll brings on some fairly interesting results. I think, without the obvious bias in that we are all gun owners (mostly) this group, being a poll of around 300 provides an accurate sample for examination. Im not going to run an ANOVA, but it seems like there are to avereages here. One on the young side. 8-14, while the outlier average is from 18-24... Very interesting indeed. It goes to show that homes with firearms in them, tend to produce poeple who like firearms, The 8-14 group is amazing to me, As we are all here, Most of us 21+, basically saying our old man gave me a gun, and i shot. I love it. You know what it says to me? EXPOSE YOUR CHILDREN. If you can get them into shooting/hunting young, theyll likely be supporters for life. The other one is the 18-24 range, At 18 you can by rifles and shotguns. At 21 you can buy handguns, These are the folks, it seems, who exposed themselves to firearms when they were able to. I like this poll. We should do more polls.

At the age of seven I was given a Savage Model 3 .22 single shot rifle.

I still have it and it continues to shoot well.

Model 94 in .32 Special for deer hunting.

I put 8yr in the pole, but that was for a mod 67 single shot .22. I had a bb gun from the time I could outside without my mom, or at least from my earliest memories.

my father bought for me a savage bolt action 22 mag when i was 13 years old. He was teaching me about hunting and marksmanship.

My 1st firearm was a Taurus .45 24/7 pro. It was a great gun but I recently just sold it to bring in some other income. I plan on getting another as soon as possible. It was very accurate and never had any problems with it. :banghead:Bills

At age 12 I was given a German Simson-Suhl Boy's Rifle. It is a single shot .22. It was one of the firearms my father brought back from Germany after WWII. It was found in some area where the Hitler Youth were trained in marksmanship. I still have it. Shot lots of small game with it when young.

5th birthday in 1947.
Never been without since.

I was given Stephens Favorite when I was six.
I was only permitted to handle/shoot the rifle under the strict supervision of my Dad or an Uncle or two.

Because I could not read the first post stating "firearm only" I voted in the 4yo bucket. I got my Red Ryder as soon as I could recite AND explain the 12 commandments of shooting and hunting. That was the Summer of 1943. I couldn't cock it on my own for another year, but I would go shooting with Dad and my elder sister almost every weekend.

In 1948, I got my 03A3 from DCM and started updating it for competition. I paid for it out of my allowance. It took me a loooooong time to gather that $12.50. Then I got my little Winchester .22 singleshot that Christmas.

I've never had a large collection of guns, but I sure enjoy the ones I have.

Pops

1985 I was13 when I got a new ruger 77/22 that I could use without permission. Before that I used another 22mag and a 20ga. But permission to head out with one was needed. I lived in a very rural area.

Had a couple of pellet rifles before, but got a .410 break barrell when I was 8. When my grandchildren get 4 i get them a daisy, and let their parents decide when they get bbs. When they get 6 they get a "cricket" .22, and I take them to shoot. Oldest is 7 now and I am trying to figure when to get him a 20 gauge. If I had a place to dove hunt it would be this year. Thinking about an airsoft when they are 4 and a bb gun later on the other 2, a 3yr old boy and 1yr old girl.

I learned on the Marlin mod 60 that my father bought for me at a pretty young age, but it stopped being "borrowing his gun" and started being "possessing my gun" at age 18.

I was 13 when my grandpa gave me my first; a Winchester Model 72A. That's a darn fine .22 bolt action that you don't come across very often.

Grandpa also gave me my first pistol when I turned 18. A Browning Hi Power, MkII.

To this date, they are my most cherished firearms, and the only two that stay while all the others come and go.

If my memory is correct I first shot a firearm at about age 6 or 7 (a single shot bolt action .22) and received my first firearm at about age 8 or 9 (a single shot .410 that I was allowed to hunt rabbits and squirrels on my own, i.e., no adult supervision; and ducks with my dad and grandfather.)

When I was 10 (so this would have been 1975), my uncle gave me the Japanese carbine that my grandfather had brought back from the war. I've been interested in military firearms ever since.

Daisy Defender a Korea War commemorate

I was 1 year old

I got my first real gun when I was 13.
Dad was in WW1 & 2 ---he did not like guns
I wrote up a nice letter on his typewriter & signed his name to it giving me permission to purchase a weapon. Took a streetcar 9 miles downtown & purchased a Savage model 22/410 later renamed Savage 24V--22cal over 410 shot gun.
When he found it 6 mo later--he did not kill me as I am typing here but he was not too happy. My brother lost it in the woods when he had a bottle of OLD GRANDAD & gave me his Marlin 39A--wow--was I a happy camper

I got my Winchester Model 1906 .22 when I was 12 in 1963 which was the same age my dad was when my grandfather gave it to him. It has resided in my immediate possession loaded for the last 50 years without jumping out and shooting anyone except non human animals and targets..

Remington 581 when I was 6. Still shoot it 25 yrs later.

Free access at 4, as soon as I could cock the single shot .22 . Dad was a WWII paratrooper and sniper, he was an exceptionally good instructor in all firearms, that was one of his jobs during the early part of the war and he passed on quite a bit.