MOST children cannot grasp the finality of death until about age 5-6,before those years most children envision "heaven" as just some-place else that their (grandparent,cat dog,goldfish) is that they cant see or travel to, so my opinion is no hands-on firearms until that age (depends on child maturity) I started my kids on air-soft guns shooting at empty pop-cans off the back deck around 6-7 years,, BUT NOT UNTIL they could tell me who "ANNA " was...
Always treat every gun as if it IS loaded
Never point the barrel at ANYTHING you dont want to kill
Never put your finger inside trigger guard until sights are aligned on target
Always know your target and whats behind it..
I still drill my kids on "Anna" EVERY time they are to handle a weapon (now that their in their teens they act like,Gosh dad im NOT stupid) but I INSIST on them reciting "Anna" to me ,,
Having said that IMO shooting airsoft was a great learning platform for them, they make just about every gun in airsoft as they do in firearms,(Pump-shotguns,bolt-action rifles,semi-auto handguns) so they get the mechanics of operation of each BEFORE they even put a "real " gun in their hands
Now that my kids are teens my oldest (17) only wants to shoot things that explode or blow apart (milk-jugs,old appliances) and is not content with punching paper My 15yr old girl dosent have ANY friends that shoot with their parents so it's just "not cool".
My 14-yr old boy however is a future "gun nut" LOVES to shoot everything i have from the 10/22 to my .243 but especially likes my .223 AR15 and would shoot it to death if i could afford to feed his habit as well as mine,,
I use TV and movies to depict whats REAL and whats FAKE..
Fake meaning endless shootout's where the good/bad guys never run out of bullets,are perfectly calm under fire and never have to re-load
The best REAL depiction of what happens when you shoot someone i found to be the scene in "saving private ryan" where they overtake the German sniper nest and the youngest member of their squad gets hit in abdomen and essentially dies in some-one's arms calling for his "mama" ,,, very dramatic and realistic with their friends trying to save him,, Not for the younger-viewers as it may cause nightmares but when you feel they have a grasp on the finality of death in relation to firearms it drives the point home.
Hopefully this helps ,,