Really.. if you take him out and let him try a few of your he just MIGHT get interested in practicing.
That said a SW model 10 or GP 100 would be just fine, nothing fancy to fool with, easy to load and unload, inexpensive and uncomplicated. I would NOT give a beginner a DA/SA auto.
And if I was going to recommend a shotgun, again for ease of use would be a double rather than a pump gun. When you load it and close it, it's cocked, period. Problem is there just aren't many inexpensive short barrelled doubles (ie Stevens, Stoeger) anymore, as now they command "cowboy" pricing. I haven't seen a Rossi for sale anywhere in years. I have not been impressed with the Baikal shotguns with "external hammers" they look cheap and cosmetic, internal hammers would be better.
Again, get him to the range and bust some clays, then fire that 12 ga. into a wet phone book using a trap load at "hallway" range. He'll get the idea. Shotguns don't make the earth shake and everything fall dead when you pull the trigger, you still have to aim.